MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 125 
corrugated rim which serves three purposes, namely it 
strengthens the mouth and keeps it distended, it secretes 
nectar, and often develops into a funnel-shaped tube which 
projects into the pitcher, preventing the escape of any insect 
which may have entered. From the rim to the base of 
the pitcher, there usually extends a pathway, the sides of 
which are provided with long teeth-like hairs, resembling 
those found in the Venus fly trap. Until fully developed, 
the mouth of the pitcher is Hoded by means of a lid which 
later is permanently lifted and serves as a protection from 
rain. It is not true, as is popularly supposed, that the lid 
closes when an insect enters the pitcher. 
The interior of the pitcher is covered with innumerable 
spherical glands which secrete, before the opening of the 
lid, a fluid comparable to the gastric juice of the stomach. In- 
sects are attracted by the nectar on the under side of the lid 
and on the corrugated rim and usually enter the pitcher 
from which they seldom find it possible to escape. They are 
soon drowned in the liquid which afterwards partially 
digests them, thus rendering these plants just as truly car- 
niverous as many animals. A plant of the nepenthes, 
“paradise” in the Garden collection recently captured 
several cockroaches, and two days later red ants were noticed 
climbing up the pitcher between the pathway of thorn-like 
hairs, many ed hers of them being ultimately consumed 
by the plant. The digestive fluid is said to collected 
from the fresh pitchers by the natives of Borneo and used 
as a remedy for indigestion. | 
Cultivation and Garden Collection. — Members of the 
genus Nepenthes are difficult to grow satisfactorily, unless a 
special house is provided for their cultivation, and with the — 
crowded state of the old oo it was impossible to 
give them the special conditions necessary to bring them to 
perfection. With the removal of the small tropical ferns to 
the new plant range, it will be possible to put all the insec- 
tiverous plants, including the pitcher plants (Nepenthes), 
trumpet-leaved pitcher plants (Saracenia), Venus fly pan 4 
(Dionaea), and sun-dews (Drosera) in one house. This 
be provided with a large tank over which the plants will be 
suspended, thus Reoriting the moist atmosphere so neces- 
sary to produce perfect specimens. Nepenthes should be 
grown in soil composed of equal parts of peat and £58 um 
moss. The roots must always be kept moist and the leaves 
sprayed periodically throughout the day. oe 
_ Handling of the pitchers soon causes them to wither and 
die, ea if the fluid which they contain is turned 
out, as is occasionally done by visitors. 
