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THE DEVIL PLANT OF MISSISSIPPI.

- ' r — ■=♦ r — - — : There has recently a ppeared in this vicinity a most peculiar growth, known as the 'devil plane,' which' is so .deadly as to ; render all insect life, and vegetation fhits neighbourhood lifeless. iris most innocent' iir appearance; lieing of a tender green, glinging close to the earth, and sprinkled -with small red blossoms, eu psh aped, ail d holding in their hearts a single drop of moisture. It is in this singular dew, which the sun has no power to disppl, that the plant's most blighting influence is said to lie. Bees by the hundreds have beenfound dead in the blossoms. Indeed, the hives of i; the neighbourhood are nearly depopulated by, the noxious flowers. A gentleman who is noted as a botanist in these parts tasted this dew, and declared that it was of a sickening sweetness, without odour, and viscid like liquid gum. It was allowed to dwell on his tongue, which soon began to burn him so as to raise a .Wieto'r, and the member swelled up and became " discoloured and very painful. Tne beps have not been the only sufferers by this growth, but every in seel approaching it seems to become paralysed, and after a beat of two of the wings above this creeping upas drops dying among its cruel leaves. Cattle which have, eaten of it die in a few hours in the greatest agony with a sort of exagerated tetanus, the skin drawn tense, and the eyes protruding from the head. All ordinary remedies fail to restore one in these attacks. Vegetation also seems to shun the ' devil plant,' and whole tracts of meadow are now lying scorched and deod from the insidious approach of this unknown growth. Under the microscope the leaves exhibit innumerable little mouths, or I suckers of such tenacity as to sting the hand on which the leaf is laid, leaving a dull, red mark, like the wound of a. scorpion. The people of the vicinity say this plant is the forerunner of disaster, it having made previous appearances iust before the outbreak of the war and on each occasion of the coming of yellow fever. An effort has been made to burn it out, but, protected by its singular dew, this has failed. The dead bodies of cattle which have died of eating it, on being examined, show that the digestive organs are swollen to four times their natural size, and look as if they had been burned ; the heart is congested, and th,e blood of a dark unusual , tinge, with an odour like benzoid. The plant is of rapid growth, covering acres in a few days, requiring little hold and going over every obstacle in its way, and the roots being of threadlike fineness, and extending only an inch or two below che surface of the ground, but exhibiting extraordinary tenacity oner: they seize 'hold of a spot, enwrapping pebbles, old roots, &c, like clinging fingers.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CL18940330.2.9

Bibliographic details

Clutha Leader, Volume XX, Issue 1027, 30 March 1894, Page 3

Word Count
496

THE DEVIL PLANT OF MISSISSIPPI. Clutha Leader, Volume XX, Issue 1027, 30 March 1894, Page 3

THE DEVIL PLANT OF MISSISSIPPI. Clutha Leader, Volume XX, Issue 1027, 30 March 1894, Page 3