, 1877-08-18

tlD"cEs nHuut y In thc tnhrnl11, anil tlu7lhE
tIicul about in thc nttcrnuni, If si,c weather liz
Iinc. mil nj .losny tfn:n at tlIr appFnaci ui 4
Storm. Then there ik He neat little vine sa'nrl
Moncywort u.ysIrnarln nl'n'ntIaf'a'. which Is
20 ,nl ''e 1t, tn, aasksas md me more shnwy n
err, known as tho SahmbrngIA. Thu frtmworts
arc nl, her11acctn, plants,
Thy l'rimT"r,s ore represented r. ouE noraly
In the fields and coJses in May md .Tunc. IL Is
popuInrly named the American Cowslp OF, in
The West, tic Shoottng-star. The plant is ycry
lovely In cultivation.
l. thyrstfofia,, growing In wei places about
Wno3lawn and Afnsworth; the l.. strietn, found
southwest Of Hyde I'ark: tic l.. ctI!ata, com.
tn.'n near the river at Riverside and Harlem;
md tho /, Iotfgif,lla, abundant on THO praiEics.
All arc ptants 0f humble aspect, bearing yellow
0owcFs IN Furinr and t,tmmcr.
This Wascr-ttmperncl tsamolu. vNlcfnndt,
Thatcher. but II Is rare in o.r vicinity. II Is
luT herb, growing III dark soil. and having en-"
lire leaves and raccmcs of white flowers, pro-
dtIcd through tho summer.
Thc l}Iatasscrworts U.entilh,lacca), arc neither
useful NOR Ornamental, yet tlcrc atr Striking
pcelliarlttcs In the structure Of sou.c u tfc
snecics wbc., excite The deepest interest 81 tt!c
observer. They arc t,crbaccuus plante, living ~
marches nr In water, IN alt part. Ut tic wurdt
but esnccinlly In warm Countries. One genus.
tic Genfslca, Ia nlsnntt exclusively Braziliun
There nre !csa thar 200 specca in the or,ler. und
Of these we have three. all belonging 10 the
strh Tic trcatcr Maddcrwor., U. rulgurss. gruw.
In the slouGlls along tho akc.s',orc. Us stems
arc lmnlcrsca IN thc waler, md MI al"ns tllcfr
thlekly srt with i;ttiu h'adfcrs. The yellow
luwcra rise above The water. twp nr three III a
racctMc, und usually continue nil summer. The
U. 1thbn is rare tInnt Among The hngs ut MIL
lcr's and t;lbson's station; anil the &. eornuia
common at Millcr'F,
II las nccn supposed that The b1ad1ets OH tic
stems Of tlc Gtrivar.as answered tho role pur-
pose Of kccpiny thr. plant. aGoat.. hut II has
tcore tl.ai t,u bal,lcrs arc III reality ,nost In.
Ecutous1y-tonstructcd traps designed for ratcl,-
inc Watcr-nnln,as. The Inference Is, that tho
plants iced upon the llny creatures they cap
turcs and l.eneo that thcy befonG that ctrons
clues designated as insccttyorous. Mrs. Mary
Trent, OF New Jersey. pubslstIcd about tuD
years ago IN Interesting acsn,lnt nf her o,scrvn-
tions III connection With tho lladders nf the
Ctsiculartas,wttcl' was reproduced IN condensed
fosH IN these columns. In Ills wurk upon
"lntcytiyotous plants." Mr.. Darwin llas .cyatcI
several cl!.pters to record Ut Ills experiments
With thc Ctrtgatar!as, the i'jngulcuat, mud the
urniiscas. llo found all the species which hc
examined to have tic habit ot cupturfng and
sulr,stlng rron inscctr.
The fcnEdncula vulsar!s, y small perennial
plant, having about eight root.lcarcs in cluster,
the largest about Que and llalf inehcs In lcugtl,
and ttyce-fourtl's Ut all Inch In bEgn1th, is, NJ
cordtnG to Darwin, .not only supported 10 d
large extent by tho extraordinary number of
Insects which It habttuaIly captures, hut like
wise draws sofne aUurishment from t1lr polcu,
leaves. and sccla of other plants, which Oitrn
adhere to It's lcaycs. 1t IL, therefore, partly
vegetable as wctl ~ an animal feeder" This,
aud other species Of the genus. capture lnsvrts
by means IL thc Ylarid secretion poured out
rom glands on thu leaves, and. whom Its vc-
tins arc cnta.lElc1. e!oslr folds its leaves over
them, md dlgcsts then, at its lc.e.1rc.
Tho Polynau,phafyx, genus al nallcrwurts
conancd to Western Australia, Is furnished will,
blatldcrs wh!cl, lure nn action md purpose
similar tn those of the Utricutaria. Tfv t;c,s-
liscas have, soinu Of them, similar blaldure,
whlo they boaFt singular contrlyance, rcsrn,-
S nGc an n tht ~ m IT. o. 9 sah n tc
which Is lined With hairs, tina. permit nsccta to
pnss In, but not to return. Thesc extranrdnary
traitB uf the f+cnthninecr render it oEc Of the
most interesting OF the natural orders.