124 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
work, having up to the present time secured several thou- 
sand excellent herbarium specimens. During the current 
autumnal season, Mr. Palmer’s field work will be confined 
mainly to southwestern Missouri and to northwestern Arkan- _ 
sas; and in the spring it is planned to have him begin his 
collecting very early in the season and work gradually north- 
ward from southern Texas to Missouri, then, in order to 
secure flowering specimens, revisit the same localities from 
which he obtained this fall fruiting material. Successive 
seasons will be spent in different parts of the Southwest so 
that eventually the Garden’s collections from the entire 
- territory will be reasonably complete. 
In consideration for a set of the woody plants obtained 
by Mr. Palmer, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard Univer- 
sity is generously coéperating with the Missouri Botanical 
Garden in the field work. 
With the excellent representation of the Southwestern flora 
already on hand, supplemented by new material, it is con- 
fidently felt that after an intensive study of the plants in the 
herbarium and in the field, it will be possible to make a 
permanent record of the indigenous flora before its natural 
aspect is irrevocably altered and to produce a handbook 
which will be of service to the student and of value for 
reference to the specialist. 
PITCHER PLANTS. 
The pitcher plants, comprising about thirty species, be- 
long to the genus Nepenthes, the only representative of the 
family Nepenthaceae. All are natives of tropical Asia, Mada- 
gascar, tropical Australia and especially the Malayan archi- 
lago, being found near the seacoast in a climate of uni- 
orm temperature where, during a large part of the year, 
the air is thoroughly saturated. with moisture. 
The flowers of these plants are dioecious (the male and 
female flowers on separate plants), and not particularly 
noteworthy, being small and of greenish color, turning to 
dark brown. The leaves, however, are remarkable and are 
responsible for the classification of the nepenthes among the 
_ wonders of the vegetable kingdom. These are alternate, the 
prolonged midrib being spirally twisted like a tendril and 
enlarged at the end into an appendage or second foliaceous 
expansion which is termed the pitcher. These pitcher-like _ 
_ appendages vary from flask-shaped to cylindrical, with often 
decided differences in shape on the same plant and are 
_ colored either green, yellow or reddish purple. In all cases 
_ the mouth of the pitcher is furnished with a thickened ao 
