Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1891-12-03
OF NATURES NOVELTIES.
STRANGE AND WONDERFUL
PLANTS TO BE SEEN.
-hs Duke Of yelling toa Caricaturcd aud
Mother-in- Laws Libeiled - Ono
Plant sufera From Chron-
ic Indigestion.

a novelty OF the Botanic garden IS
Il plant whose leaf bears remarkable
well-executed caricature of the Duke
OF Wellington. says the Washington
Star, all done in the veining, but in
the interest of visitors it does not Sc
riously rival either the ..mother-in-
law plant" a scrap OF which swells up
your tongue so that you cannot speak
for days. or the famous butcher
plant of Maryland. that has, instead
OF leaves so many pairs of tOothed
jaws that close upon any insect ven-
turing between to get at the swee.ish
bait within.
This butcher plant which grows
nowhere in the world save in the
vicinity Of Wilmington. N. g.. suffers
, for its carnivorOus habits. being
! chronic victim of Indigestion. Each
stomach trap. having used up most of
1 ne gastric juice which it secretes in
digesting the first living prey caught
usually finds the second victim it cap
| tu,es disagree with it. and the third
it is unable 10 assimilatc satisfactorily.
'shen the trap turns from green to
brown and dies like any leaf, other
fresh ones developing meanwhile to
take up the work of gobbling. After
all. this greedy vegetable is not nearly
so bad as the ''cruel plant as it is
called. whose flowers wantOnly cap
ture unsuspecting butterflies that
alight to sip honey. and hold them
until they are dead. when the grasp
OF the ruthless petals is relinquished
F, and the luckless visitor is dropped on
,, the ground.
1t is astonishing what intelligence
many vegetables exhibit. Naturalists
have come 10 be much inclined toward
thinking that a plant really has
thoughts. Its mind. as they conceive.
Is situated In the roOt!et which knows
SO we'll always what path to pursue
through the soil in search Of water.
Plants even employ insects as their
servants in the work OF reproducing
their species, paying them wages in
honey. Most vegetables combine the
two sexes in one flower; but breeding
lin and in is no more healthy for
them than it is for animals. One
blossom must marry with another if
the species Is to be continued in a
healthy way.
So young Mr. Honeysuckle dresses
himself in suit of bright yellow, and
perfumes himself deliciously Tor the
purpose Of attracting the gay butter
J flies that. Hutter around. He also pro-
vides small store OF nectar in a
golden cup to offer any insect guest
, that may come his way Presently a
butterfly pauses to take sip OF the
sweet liquor. but In doing SO she can
not avoid getting some OF the pollen
on her head, and this she carries tc
another honeysuckle. where she stops
e for second bit OF refreshment, and
I incidentally rubs of some of the poller
D upon its stigma. Thus is accomplished
= the marriage OF the flowers.
!. But the bee is the Cupid OF the veg
y etable world. to whom is assigned
most Of this marrying and giving il
i marriage among the blossoms. Their.
e is one kind Of orchid that depends al
n together for the continuance OF it
! species upon fights among bees To
moral delinquency on their part /
% may be said to owe its survival entire
8 ly. The petals OF each OF its flower
. IRE SO bent as to form sort OF littl,
e tunnel, and to get at the honey be,
i, must go in at one end or the other.
nothing iuterferes it will never com
/, Ia contact with any OF the pollen. blu
q now and then it happens that 1t meets
!. another bee which has entered iron
y the other side. Then there Is fight
and in the scrimmage the combatant.
. get bounced around and are coveret
d with tho reproductive powder. How
% ever. to accomplish anything one Q
~ these bees must 60 of and have tn
:. same sort of fight Ia another orchi'
;" blossom. 90 as to transfer a portion O
n the pollen to the stigma. Luckil,
+ this occurs often enough to perpetual
!, the plant
" Some kinds OF orchids initiate to tn
life bees butterflies and moths appar
emily for the purpose Of ATTRACTING
- these insects on the decoy- duck princi
u pie. The object is not quite 80 evl
Il dent in the case of varieties OF thes
Is extraordinary plants whose flower
counterfeit with amazing exactnes
to,.ds huge spiders and other animals
:. There is one which presents the like
y ness OF a man hanging by the head
and another that opens and shows
/" beautiful dove in an Enclosure {
= petals.
ID There is an extraordinary flowe
re that grows in the hot and dam
m jungles Of the Malay Peninsula wher
it Is called by the natives 1.-The wol
, der-wonder.' It is blossom an
}" nothing else without leaves or stem
u which grows out Of the wood Of deca,
II ing vinea This parasite is sometims
Ir three feet across its globular centr,
ID cup having capacity OF six quarts
N The strong odor it exhales resemble
- that of decaying meat SO strongly tn,
% flies swarm upon it. and it secures fe
Y tilization through their means.
40 A book might be made Of the frea
H. plants Of the world. There ia II
Of vegetable boa constructor Of Indi,
ho known as 1.-the maloo climber. whic
l w, md nv~l .A~ -.