4^92 Reti'ospedtvve ^Gt'Uicism. 



Droserafe ?being?Tioumhed by the -IdeconQposing remains of the flie^"*6Mfet 

 «!4)ture is possibly more plausible than true, but reminds me of a ndtabl* 

 paragraph which, about five years ago, appeared in the Examiner ne^s- 

 paper ; which stated that a gentleman, furthering this hint as supplied Tiini 

 by Nature, had succeeded in invigorating his plants of Droserae, or sundew, 

 4ty supplying them with Aec/". 



91; A correspondent, signing C. P., presents (VoL V. p. 110;) some remarks 

 on Drosera rotundifolia, which shows C. P. to be very intimately ac- 

 (Jjiainted with this elegant and peculiar plant in its native habitats ; audit is 

 hoped that G. P. will forthwith communicate the result of his experience; 

 Bs to the absence or presence, and the degree if present, of a faculty of sen* 

 flibility in the plant in question. — J.D. 



-il 'Nepenihes disttllatoria, Cepkalotus folliculdris,' and the Sarracenlse.— 

 ffi E. L., in the same interesting article (Vol. IV. p. 134 — 136.), makes men* 

 don (p. 135.) of the pitcher plant (JVepenthes distillatdria). It may be 

 useful to register here, in conjunction with that, as subservient to future 

 inferences^ the- existence of a plant in New Holland, botanically called 

 f2ephaldtus, follicularis, or New Holland pitcher leaf, which bears a striking 

 Tftnalogy to iV^ep^nthes, in having pitchers considerably similar in structure] 

 jWifaile, nevertlieless, the plants themselves are very dissimilar in habit. The|^ 

 diky' be thus contrasted^ JVepenthes distillat^ia is an evergreeh climbing 

 planty attaining' the height of from 12 to 20 ft., and has its large ovatel 

 iknceolate ieiives disposed alternately along its stem, and each leaf sustairii 

 from its tip a long depending pitcher. In Cephalotus follicularis there i^ 

 no stem, save the flower scape, which is leafless, and but from 1 to ^ fti 

 high ; and although the leaves and pitchers of the plant are producefi 

 tc^ether in a rosaceous radical tuft, the pitchers are distinct from the 

 leaves, and have footstalks of their own. The pitchers are stated to secrete 

 water, like those of iVepenthes, and to entrap many insects, especially ants ; 

 but this entrapping must arise from their mechanical position alone, or froiti 

 the enticement hdd out by their water, as not the slightest sensibility has*^ 

 J believe, ever been imputed to any part of the pitcher of either the JV^epen^ 

 thes or the Cephalotus. It is remarkable, that in the pitchers of both 

 these plants, and in the pitchers of the side-saddle flowers ( Sarracenfcs) as 

 well, the pitcher is never closed by its lid, except in the earliest stages of 

 the pitcher's growth; and that, as the pitcher increases irt size and age, the 

 lid becomes erect, and ceases to cover the mouth of the pitcher. Should 

 this notice of Cephalotus at all interest J. E. L., I would refer him to 

 ,^urtis's Botanical Magazincy t. 3118, 3119., for excellent figures, and ai 

 detailed description of this wonderful little plant; and living specimens of 

 it, although it is exceedingly rare in England, are thriving thoroughly fil 

 one of the stoves at Knight's Exotic Nursery, Chelsea. Figures of the 

 Sarracenicp will also be found in Curtis's Botanical Magazine^in the earlief" 

 volumes, and of the Sarracenw; purpurea numerous fine plants have jusi 

 been imported into Dennis's Nursery, Chelsea, from the swamps of the 

 United States of America, in which the Sarracenf*^ spontaneously growl 

 it is scarcely in place here, to remark that Professor Lindley supposes the 

 terminal lobe, or lamina, of Dionae'a Musclpula, and the lid of the pitcher 

 in A^epenthes, Cephalotus, and Sarraceni<», to be analogous to the lamina, 

 or expanded portion, of ordinary leaves ; while the pitchers of the last-named 

 p^o, and the pitcher with its leaf-like footstalk in A^epenthes, are deemed 

 only dilated foliaceous footstalks, with coherent margins. This view, at 

 first sight, seems paradoxical ; but the remarkably dilated footstalks in the 

 -^caciae, which supply the place of real leaves, and other striking modifica- 

 tions of foliate structure which are known, prepare us to admit that the 

 above view is probably a close approximation to a correct one. — ./. JD. 

 The Flowers y or Heads of Flowers , of the Annual Sunfiower^ vary not their 



