the botanist usually knows beforehand how to determine the parasite
whose presence is made known to him. Thus, the _Cuscuta_ of flax, called
by the French _Bourreau du Lin_ (the flax's executioner), and by the
English, flax dodder, grows only upon this textile plant, the crop of
which it often ruins. On account of this, botanists call this species
Cuscuta epilinum. Others, such as C. Europaea, attack by preference hemp
and nettle. Finally, certain species are unfortunately indifferent and
take possession of any plant that will nourish them. Of this number is
the one that we are about to speak of.

Attempts have sometimes been made out of curiosity to cultivate exotic
species. One of the head gardeners at the Paris Museum received
specimens of _Cuscuta reflexa_ from India about two years ago, and,
having placed it upon a geranium plant, succeeded in cultivating it.
Since then, other plants have been selected, and the parasite has been
found to develop upon all of them. What adds interest to this species
is that its flowers are relatively larger and that they emit a pleasant
odor of hawthorn. Mr. Hamelin thinks that by reason of these advantages,
an ornamental plant might be made of it, or at least a plant that would
be sought by lovers of novelties. Like the majority of dodders, this
species is an annual, so that, as soon as the cycle of vegetation is
accomplished, the plant dies after flowering and fruiting. But here the
seeds do not arrive at maturity, and the plant has to be propagated by
a peculiar method. At the moment when vegetation is active, it is only
necessary to take a bit of the stem, and then, after previously lifting
a piece of the bark of the plant upon which it is to be placed, to apply
this fragment of _Cuscuta_ thereto (as in grafting), place the bark over
it, and bind a ligature round the whole. In a short time the graft will
bud, and in a few months the host plant will be covered with it.