The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-20
A illustrating PLANT.
How 1t Became an Epicure and Died OF
Govt

How 1t Became an Epicure and Died of
Govt.
The desuItory talk of little group of
travellers in one of the hotel corridors
the other evening had drifted to natural
curiosities and, as usual on such occa-
sions the stories had grown slightly TAIL
er as the ball went around the circle.
Finally it was passed up to a salloW-
faced man who had registered from San
jose Costa Rica, and who had listened
to the narratives of the others m
thoughtful silence. Il scarcely know
what l can add to your symposium. he
said, in response to some pressing, Tor
| have really seen very little that was
out of the ordinary in my life, and moth
ing at all that compares with the extra
ordinary things that have just been de-
scribed If you are willing to risk be-
ing bored, however, I'll tell you briefly
about a rather curious carnivorous plant
found a couple of years ago in South
ern Nicaragua.
81 was on a prospecting expedition at
the time" he continued and had pene-
trated a practically unknown region
southwest of the lower lakes. One day
while l was pushing my way through an
almost tropical stretch of forest, L no
ticed very strengthening plant at he
foot of immense cabbage palmetto.
Il consisted of a single green stalk near
| ly as big around as my wrist, but only
about two feet high, with a few thick,
iumpy leaves, and a large, cup-shaped,
purple blossom perched at the extreme
| tip. The Central American jungles are
full of all sorts of fantastic flowers, but
| this was so widely different from any
| thing L had ever seen that / sat down to
study it in detail. While / was scrutinlz-
| ing the queer growth, bumblebee, fully
as large as the end of my thumb, came
sailing down, and after few preliml-
nary pirouettes, dived into the purple
! cup. Instantly the ends of the petals
curIed inward, and in less time than it
takes to tell it the blossom had assumed
the appearance of a globe, imprisoning
the insect inside I saw then that | had
! encountered the new and singular speci-
men of the carnivorous or fesh-eating
plant ''Oh, yes, they are we'll known
to botanists, said a gentleman from
California who had told a story about a
double-headed bullfrog; I've seen sever
al myself Exactly" replied the Cen
trail American. with courteous gesture,
but 1 warned you in advance 1 had
nothing remarkable to relate. Compared
to your frog. my plant was a mere
weed That's all right" replied the
Californian, indulgently; "go on and tell
us about it,
when 1 recognized the true char
Iacter of the plant" continued the sallow
stranger, Il became very much interest
ed. All the carnivorous floral varieties
of which have knowledge confine them
selves to tiny gnats and such small game,
but here was a growth hardy and vora-
cious enough to take in a huge humble
bee at a single mouthful In less than
FIVE minutes the petals slowly unfolded
and the insect had disappeared. Upon
that I determined to take the plant with
me for further study and digging it UP
with machete, I carefully planted ii
in large earthen water-jar and turned
it over to one of my Indian guides. About
two weeks later I returned to the town