62 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
section, of which the Garden at present has no representatives, 
includes those forms which neither have pitfalls nor exhibit 
movement of any kind, but whose leaves are covered with a 
mucilaginous substance in which insects become entangled, 
later to be digested by the plants. 
Species of Sarracenia, variously known as sidesaddle-flower, 
American pitcher-plant, and trumpetleaf, are found growing 
in peat-bogs in the eastern United States and in Canada. In 
these species the rim about the mouth of the trumpet-shaped 
leafstalk is somewhat swollen and curved outward and down- 
ward. . Above this orifice the leaf-blade is arched to form a 
cover for the so-called pitcher. Both this cover and the upper 
portion of the trumpet are highly colored, in which respect 
they serve to attract insects in the same manner as do flowers. 
At the mouth of the pitcher and on the under side of the lid, 
honey is secreted in great abundance. On the areas where 
honey occurs are found innumerable fine, smooth, conical 
projections directed downward, becoming gradually longer 
toward the bottom of the trumpet. Insects are attracted by 
the bright colored lid and are lured on by the honey; when 
they reach the slippery deflexed points they are unable to 
hold themselves, and every effort to climb up these points 
only causes the insects to slide farther and farther downward 
to the bottom of the trumpet, where they are soon killed and 
ultimately decomposed in the fluids secreted within the 
chamber. Whether this decomposition, or digestion, is ef- 
fected merely by putrefactive bacteria, or whether it is due 
to the presence of digestive enzymes, or ferments, secreted by 
the plant, appears to be a matter of question; it is certain, 
however, that the products of decomposition are absorbed by 
the plant to serve as food, especially the nitrogenous sorts. 
The genus Nepenthes, comprising the true pitcher-plants, 
is represented by about thirty-six species. It is a native of 
the tropical region extending from India through the East 
India Islands to Australia. In habit it is a vine which climbs, 
by its leaves, among the under-shrubs and small trees that 
overhang the margin of pools in shaded damp jungles. In 
these plants the leaf is much more modified than in the 
species of Sarracenia. The lower portion of the petiole is 
winged and expanded laterally like a typical leaf, whereas 
the middle. portion is small and cylindrical and acts as a 
tendril. By coiling about the twigs of adjacent shrubs or 
trees the plant is enabled to climb, and at the same time 
these supports assist in carrying the weight of the pitcher, 
which forms the third section of the Beis The leaf-blade 
proper is represented by a small ovate structure which closely 
