Plants and Their Story (1910, and all later editions) is not positive, and has not been taken up by later writers. Other authors refer to the parasitic habit, in their general accounts of the genus, and some (e.g, Richards, 1949) have commented on the likelihood of the native species sharing this habit. On the other hand, in the most recent editions of Laing and Blackwell (1957) and Martin (1947) it is stated that this has not been confirmed. It would seem, therefore, that Cockayne's early statement has not been accepted as based on New Zealand evidence. In view of the fact that in a recent article (Aiken, 1957) no reference is made to the possibility of parasitism in New Zealand Euphrasias, and because conflicting opinions on the situation in that genus have been given to me verbally by New Zealand botanists, I have thought it worth while to record the following observations.

Three of the species of this genus which occur in the vicinity of the Mountain Biological Station of the University of Canterbury at Cass—namely, E. revoluta, E. cockayniana, and E. zealandica, have all proved to possess haustorial connections with the roots of adjacent plants whenever they have been examined. These haustoria consist of small bead-like swellings to one side of the fine roots. Their connections with the roots of the host is very fragile, so that roots which have been cleared of soil frequently show numerous haustoria without any host root attached. However, with care junctions may always be found.

Transverse sections through the haustoria have confirmed that penetration of the tissues of the host root occurs. The structure of the haustoria is similar to that of other members of the Rhinanthoideae, especially to that of Melampyrum pratense as figured by Leclerc du Sablon (1887). The cells of the cortex multiply to form the mass of the haustorium; within this the cells opposite one of the phloem groups of the parasite root elongate radially. Root hairs form a collar around the base of the haustorium. The actual absorbtive cells are few in number, and enter the host tissues rather in the manner of fungal mycelia.