The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-01-12

There are several different plants
there. Those with the open pitchers are
very young, and those with the large
covered pitchers are fully mature" ex-
planned the DOCTOR In their native
lands you would find the large ones
crammed with insects"
Have you any other pitcher-plants
here?' asked Rose, coming back to the
old doctors side. What large family
of them there seems to be"
81 have a good many specimens of
the Nepenthes, he replied. There
are thirty species in all, and they are
climbing and half-shrubby plants that
grow in the warmest parts of Borneo
and Ceylon, in tropical Australia, and
coast They are very different in SIZE
some little ones having pitchers not more
than an inch long, while.the pitchers of
other plants, including the lids, measure
foot and a half, and are large enough
to drown small animal or bird"
Where do the pitchers grow?" asked
Rose
From the tip of the leaf as you see
them here, and they have long stalks
which, before the pitchers are fully grow n,
twist like tendrils, and enable the plants
to grow to great height"
81 see there are young and old pitchers
on these plants also, remarked Mr. An
son. The younger have broad fringed
wings on the outside, and the lids are
open, and some of them rest on the
ground, or nearly touch it. The older
ones are much longer and narrower, and
Nth o1ocaJ Ia,
suppose these catch flying insects, and
the others creeping bugs. Bnt what is
the purpose of the thick wrinkled rim
around the mouth of the pitchers? All
of them have this"
That serves for a good many pur-
poses" said the old doctor, adjusting his
gold spectacles on his nose with care, " it
strengthens the mouth and keeps it open ;
in some it secretes honey for sweet bait
and in other kinds it is developed into
funnel-shaped tube that runs down into
the pitcher and keeps the insects from
getting out, or row of bent-in hooks
that are strong enough to catch small
bird, if it puts its head too far in to get
water"
"There is no honey on this lid at all, >
h,
so that the pitcher is wide open"
Eyes; if the honey were on this lid,
the insects would eat it safely, and fly
away, so there is no use for the honey
glands. The bright color draws the visi-
tors to their death in this case"
"There is very rare plant" continued
the doctor to Mr. Anson. at has been
found only in Portugal and Morocco. Its
botanical name is Drosophyllum, but the
villagers near Oporto call it The Fly
Catcher" and gathering large quantities
of it on the dry hills, hang it up in their
houses to free them of insects find it
does its work very we'll here All the
leaves are covered with glands that pro-
duce sticky liquid, in which insects are
very quickly drowned: There is another
plant, almost shrub in size-the Rori-
dula-at the Cape of Good Hope, that
does the Byblis in Western Australia. .
" 1 suppose very few of our common
flowers are meat-eaters?" asked Mr.. An
son.
Eyes there are good many greenhouse
flowers that catch tiny insects in their
hairy leaves You don know how many
indulge themselves in this habit, until
you watch them" the old doctor con-
tinued, laughing. Tobacco, for instance
catches numbers, and the horse-chestnut
buds also, although in the latter case
there is no use made of them; so we may
hope the deaths are accidental"
Are those water-plants fl y-catchers
too?" questioned Rose.
Yes, indeed and they are so curious
that you must notice them closely. The
Alchovanda, which grows in the water,
has two-lobed leaves, that suddenly close
at a touch, and so catches many small
inhabitants of the water. There is an
other plant-the Utricularia-that seems
to have bladders growing upon it. This
has most complicated structure inside,
with valve that opens under the insects
and they drop suddenly into watery
prison. A lady in New Jersey used often
to entertain herself by watching the in
sects and worms recommending the hole.
Sometimes they would suddenly dash
away, as if afraid, sometimes they would
even venture their heads in and then
back out. Others would come boldly on
and find retreat impossible. These blad-
der-plants grow in almost every country
some on the mountains of Brazil Certain
species have their bladders underground
and show. when examined. the remains