Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-30
PLANTS THAT EAT INSECTS
THE FAMOUS WARE COLLECTION AT
HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
Venus Fly Trap With Its Sensitive
Icayes-How the BladderwOrt
Ensnares It's Prey.
From the Brooklyn Eagle.

E,nSnareS Its Prev.
From the Rronklvp E.cle
", - ,1 r.
''i'E eNtiS o'uS Ii"9 i'''" VI iie"tN W.
the Venus Fly-trap-the Dionaea muscipuia
of scientific botany-and of the eXtraOrdi-
nary constituencies Of IT'S leaves so deli
,,tar,- ,.,,,.t,,,,,, .b.,. :, a., a.. insect
mo - -
llkhtS upon one, the Ieaf closes upon !tSel
and :" imprisons the unhappy insect. KILL
Ing and actually eating it for that the in
scot really ro,,risbes the rlant has been
- 49,.
Ni''"" ny comparative 9I''uE "'ti'N " 20
It's insect food it fails always To attain It's
best DEVELOPMENT.
The. Venus F,T,--tran is only one ont of n
~, e ;--.4.-, ,.,,. , ..,.f,,t
"a .''s' CIV ''"7 i'''',''7,
SIIdN "l "hl'h mas "''H ti''"' itt'ii''S ny
''N'''' SSH VI '''""S "a '>'~''
49,. ,,,tir.,i ji1i''.+,,,ii,, IN n,'c If mo
most Interesting from :, noruIar point Of
view. IF the many cases Of glass flowers
IN tn" Ware collection "f Harvard NJ
', - 't "i'i'' US -, :. ~ ,l
q -. :. L,c,v., 60 ,,ost ,-isitors In cam
bridp ,bt ,rnrly of tho famo1Is T1aschlxa
fr,iI,- f.+b.r .,,l CIV, II WIS hae,t,, at
tbc suggest io,, nf mr. C,rod.,I.. of the mi
T..rsirv tn whom, If first occurred that the
skill. If these rerna rl,aIIe artists could h,
a,.,rt..5 as ,,..It IN aopr,rc ,s 70 rho r,,nda1s
81 ,,,ari-. ir,-.rt cbra ras v-bi,;, tbey were
tb.r in 1ss,; making for rho museums of
F-r1rrn, and secured 10 Harvard through
fh. generosity of Mrs L.Iiznberh G. Ware
orI Misc Nar,- 7 N~aro IF pnS+n,, Tho
coII.rri,n a,rnu.ing Win eacb s1,rcsedinr
,-cIr x irten,ad tn r.rres.I,t rho rela
,i,,,S ,f ~ ,-,r;o,,, sov.erine, ,,Iaots af
Enrtb Ar,ari,a. .,nd ona-n,,artar Of a LARGO
c.s.. il now, devotrd In :, tyuicaI colIecti0n
% irssctivorous r,letrts .rbn snncimans
,,.rr,so,t nearly ali snc, rIants IN the
RATED states and arr. modelled v-irb a dol
icsr,- md truth To life which 10 aImost
ircr,diLls tn ON, who has NOT eeen them
.TL.s. i,sact i,.,rC,,IS ,,Iar,s ar.. ;rt.rnstjno
as am irIustration Of tho sefeutiffc FACT mai
b.twaart tho animal and vegetable king
dor,s tbart. e rralI,- rnnra in ron,no, than
;S e,s,sr,ii,- e,,,9,neSI. th.i,. inst f,od al
Though tho fart was for q long time nm
rsroouiz.1 il nov known - he a necessary
rart of thsi, iife
Like Mouse trap.
The bladdCrwort for example, Of which
a model Is shown AT Harvard is familiar
IN frao,,anters of ronds and Glow straams
:, -
A'Ih ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS l" ltN"s. ana IL no"
known to use the small bladders, from
" hiCh il derives its name. for another pur-
pose than that of floating itself TO the sur
face of the water in which il lives. The
little bladders common to the inland COM
mon bladderwort and the purple bladder
wnrt-which last is generally found near
th. coast and is recOSniZa BILE by its soli-
tary purple fiower-are also traps for in
seCts in principle not unlike the common
form of mouse trap. Each bladder has an
opeTing large enough to admit the small
insects often invisible to the naked eye,
that ihhaot the same water. bt1 'he VIC
- sine - s,n.,n I've nnenirr onIL- in
ward and therefore easily passed in enter
Ing, now debars him from escape. The in
sect Is therefore IN the position OF !he
iI'o!St VIZ lia CIV, ,iir ~ u ~,
dor is sbi1t ,.lose behind him.
Tho r,rincipIe unon which the bladder
wort catches lis urey is only less interest
ing than the means by which the victim is
cCrysrted into n food uroduct by its cam
tcr The 4nrerior If the lirtle bladder an
sorhs the decnnnns.d hray nf the insect
much as q human stomach absorbs food
although the action is slower and the plant
r7ora nearly con,parah1a 70 q tiny boa
constrictor slowly dipesting the meal that
ne has gluttouors1v swallowed at n gain
To he ayact however tho digestion of IN,
nIart is even slower than That of q s.r-
rent and a single fly Will keep a Venus
fvtrap busy nearly n month M a time.
It is interesting 10 know also that in the
cssa Of rbe. Venus Hytrap which ,nIike
tba Il.,y,Iervort Secr.teS " acid fttid thar
aids the decomnosition Of it's vfctin. the
Ieaf on openiug is found to have lost IT.;
trcacharotIs sansffiveu4ss This however
soon returns. vet if the leaf has been forced
e. close over some object that cannot
rourfSh the plant. such as a particle of
earth placed on il for the sake of experi
MN II remains closed no Innper Than
fu.ert y-fcIlr hours and mon oncri,,p fs
sin Sensitive and {n1rnedfateIy read for
it's DELAYED meal
lfeacher"hs i'ehef rant.
The Sarracenia pUrpurea. found often In
Nh r7or+b If Inn, in meat hogs from NV
FraIa,5 70 1Iipreeo,a nor,beae, Iowa and
-, .r1I,.l..s; y,
s'''''"''i' cast u III [f+t'Siit'ttieS, -
Known commonly as the side saddle now
CT. the pitcher plant or the huntSmans
cup. The latter names are more dcScrip-
tive al its appearance ana it is difficult t.
see amy resemblance in it's purple flower
and piteher-shaped green leaves to any
thing nearer Il side saddle than the billions
Of oar ancestors Bat v hatcver name il is
called. il is Il notable example Of the car
niv,ro.s plants and IS represented hv a
striking mode. In the Harvard COLLECTION.
IL carries on its operations however on
a larger scale than most, deriving. like
others IF It's hungry family a porrio1l Of
rs un;!rishrnent from the larger insects
Tn TI5sclka model shows a curious leaf
stalk formation which furnishes The tran
often in natural .,r-ciIocDS found half nm
Of water and dead insects
TIL. ,,,..,.. Cobalt.