Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-19

l&l should be called upon to give plant
HSA$ai the power of reasoning, but what else
C3sg9 is it which impels vegetable growth
to reach out for certain kinds of food and re-
Ject another, make selections as it We're The
sundew, an msectivorous plant provides the
wherewthal for most striking experiment for
those who care to avail themselves of the priv
ilege which Shows very clearly that the powers
of this plant are not limited to the mere living
in wait for its prey A recent writer says: II
pinned some living flies half an inch from the
leaves the apex at 10 o'clock In forty
minutes the leaves had bent perceptibly toward
the flies. At II O'Clock the leaves had reached
the flies and their legs were entangled among
the bristles and held fast" Here we have an
lrrefutable instance of plant which is not
only conscious that it desires flies for its food
but is also able to toward its prey.
The idea of plants consuming birds and ami
mails is not by any means fantastic as it may
appear. The nepepthes, or pitcher plants, of
tropical countries fairly well known as hot
house curosities in Britain. The ''pitcher"-
which is, of course, development of the leaf
in some species-produces a sweet liquid while
in Others the receptacle simply catches water
In either case insects attracted by the fluid,
which they come to drink, and when once in
side the pitcher" they are prevented from es-
make an exit impossible. 1t is no unusual thing
to these "piachers" and those in some spe-
cies eight inches foot long-brimful of
an accumulated mass of insect bodies. More
strange STILL however, it has been asserted on
the best authority that birds, mice and even
rats have been found in the pitchers" of the
nepenthes. More observation will be necessary
before it can be definitely stated that the ne
pennies really make arrangements to lure these
creatures into their pitchers" as, of course,
the presence of the larger animals might be ac-
cidental Still, the case is most curious, and
one for fuller investigation
The representatives of group of vegetable
parasites known cordyceps have a habit ot
growth which, to say the least, is remarkable
These fungi live in perhaps strange way as
do any plants for a good number of the spe-
ces actually grow on living insects and spiders
A variety hailing from the West Indies makes
itself the guest of a kind of wasp and the un.
fortunate hosts are frequently to be flying
about with these unscrupuous plants sprouting
out from their bodies to a length great as
that of the insect itself. Other members OF the
same family sow themselves in the bodies of cat
erpillars which have hidden away in soil or
among leaves Some of these cordyoeps grow to
huge size, and are often very much longer than
the poor grub on which they are living. In New
Zealand one of these fungi at times attains the
length Of six or eight inches, while the cat
erpillar which 1T is growing upon may be less
! than n third of that measurement. OF course,
finally. in every case these aggressive plants
bring about the destruction Of their hosts, and
IL is only a question as to how long the insect,
or whatever the attacked creature may be, can
hold out against the severe drain upon its sys-
tem