The Snowdrop is an example of the way in which living organisms generate internal heat. This is one of the plants which, like the Broad Hellebore, may be found growing in clumps in small, clear hollows in the snow. It is the warmth generated by the plants which thaws the surrounding snow.

Yellow-rattle, like the pernicious field weed Red Bartsia, obtains its nourishment by semi-parasitic means. The young germinating plant is particularly energetic in its efforts to find a host, sometimes even attaching itself to the roots of another sprouting plant of its own kind.