(devil's hair) in French, and gold thread in English. Because of their
destructive nature they have likewise been called by the unpoetic name
of hellweed; and, for the reason that they embrace their host plants so
closely, they have been called love weed and love vine.

When a seed of _Cuscuta_, germinates, no cotyledons are to be
distinguished. This peculiarity, however, the plant has in common with
other parasites, and even with some plants, such as orchids, that
vegetate normally. The radicle of the dodder fixes itself in the earth,
and the little stem rises as in other dicotyledons; but soon (for the
plantlet could not live long thus) this stem, which is as slender as a
thread, seeks support upon some neighboring plant, and produces upon
its surfaces of contact one or more little protuberances that shortly
afterward adhere firmly to the support and take on the appearance and
functions of cupping glasses. At this point there forms a prolongation
of the tissue of the dodder--a sort of cone, which penetrates the stalk
of the host plant. After this, through the increase of the stem and
branches of the parasite, the supporting plant becomes interlaced on
every side, and, if it does not die from the embraces of its enemy, its
existence is notably hazarded. It is possible for a _Cuscuta_ plant to
work destruction over a space two meters in diameter in a lucern or
clover field; so, should a hundred seeds germinate in an acre, it may be
easily seen how disastrous the effects of the scourge would prove.

These enemies of our agriculture were scarcely to be regarded as
injurious not very many years ago, for the reason that their sources of
development were wanting. Lucern and clover are comparatively recent
introductions into France, at least as forage plants. Other cultures are
often sorely tried by the dodder, and what is peculiar is that there are
almost always species that are special to such or such a plant, so that