Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-06-19
THE TRICKS OF PLANTS

One Of the principal objects Of nearly
every plant is to produce fertile seed, ard
to accomplish that object it will do amnst
anything which it Is possible for a plant
to do.
In order that the seed of a flower may
be fertile, the stigma the knob at the cn1
of the pistil. must be busted with pollen;
as rule. pollen from some other blossom.
and to insure such fertilization there arc
no lengths to which a plant will not 20.
Some flowers are able to ferti1ize their own
seeds, and for others this great problem Is
solved by the wind which carries the life
giving dust through the air in clouds. But
there are many which depend upon such
|agents as insects and certain birds, and as
these creatures are a II too busy to go about
fertlizing flower seeds just for fun, tho
flowers are obliged 10 offer inducements
in order to secure their services. Some
flowers are honest, and pay their littlG
laborers in honey, whilst others make false
promises and resort to deception, imprison-
ment and even murder in order TO gain
their ends. a day or two ago | was walk
ing along the edge of a wood when | no
ticed an extremely disagreeabe odor, and
thinking that perhaps l might learn Of
some woodland tragedy, I hunted for the
carcass which l supposed was hidden in
the underhrush. Suddenly the odor became
very strong, and | looked up to find that
was brushing against a fine specimen OF
the 'carron vine" a graceful creeper
twining about the bushes and bearing
clusters of pale. greenish. evismeling
flowers. Gathered about it were many
small flies. which had been attracted to
the spot. doubtless expecting to find de-
caying flesh. For some reason these flies
are the most suitable agents the plant can
secure to carry its pollen from flower TO
flower. and as the insects would not he at
tracted by beautiful coors and sweet per-
mi la c1r rff 1-i1 lie
some deception. In other countries there
is found a plant which not only has the
odor Of decaying meat but the appearance
of it as we'll thus forming double attrac-
ton to certain flies.
| The common "Jack-in- the pulpit Is also
a tricky flower, and he often carries his
tricks to the extent of murder. Some Of
! the flowers contain stamens and others
contain pistils, and to get the pollen from
the former to the latter is the problem
Jack has to contend with. OccssionaliY
a fly or a gnat will creep under the bright
canopy and down into the pulpit Of a pol
len-bearing flower. either to get out Of the
rain or in hope of honey, and al once he is
a prisoner. The slippery wall offers 10
foothold and he cannot fly out because
there is no room between the upright J.
umn and the pulpit wall to spread LIS
wings. After many futile efforts to escape
he becomes somewhat resigned and con-
tents himself with the little honey he finds
among the stamens. In the meantime the
anthers are rpening and presently they
open. scattering the pollen all over the lit
tie captive After that there is no further
need to detain him, so the edges Of the in
closing leaf separate just little. opening
a door, as it were, by which he can escape.
| OFF he goes, bearing with him load Of
pollen, and before long, perhaps, forgetting
his recent predicament he crawls into al
other pulpit. If this happens TO be one
| containing pistils his fate is sealed. After
he has delivered the welcome pollen, the
flower has no further use for him, aud
does not even take the trouble to set JIM
free. There is very little chance of his hr.
ing able TO free himself, and as there is no
honey in that flower, the little prisoner
stary es to death.
But it is not only for the sake OF thc2
offspring that plants resort to trickery ant
murder; some are carnivoroUs and not onl,
lure insects by promises of food but XII
and devour their captiVes. The commoneJ
plant OF this class is the innoceut-lookin
little sundew, which We may find in sunni
boys, and wet sandy places. and occasion
ally by the banks Of streams. The bes.
known variety has several upright stems,
curv'ng over at the end, each OF which
bears a number of flower buds. and usual
~ one open white flower. The leaves are
round grow at the ends of rather long
stalks and are pressed fiat against tho
ground in a sort of rosette. At first glance
| they appear to be red, but this appearance
is due to the fact that each leaf is covered
with small red hairs At the end of each
hair there is a drop OF glstenins fluid.
These leaves are the traps which the plant
sets for flies and other insects. and the
gistening drops are the bait. The insects
aight upon the leaves. expecting a feast
of honey, and at once they are caught by
the legs in the sticky fluid. AS they strug-
gle to escape the other hairs nearby close
down over them, and hold them until they
die and until their juices are sucked in hy
the leaf.
II Nenuss fly trap, growing in North Caro-
lima. is another plant which catches and
devours insects. When a fly alishts upon
leaf, the leaf folds suddenly down the
middle. and sQueezes the victim to death.
Certain cells then send out an acid which
dissolvcs the fly, and other cells absolbs
the juice,
a curious story is told 10y some modern
MunChausen of a great bot0nist who dis
covered a gigantic carnivorous plant whc h
he had conveyed TO his laboratory AVID
which he kept alive by throwing ii legs OK
mutton and huge pieces of beef. one day,
i while exhibiting this wonderful plant 10
some friends, he carecssly went too Near
1t and the spectators were paralyztd with
horror to see him seized by one of tie
enormous leaves and instantly crushed Il
death.