SUPPLEMENT. 



THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 

 By Charles Louis Pollaed. 



CHAPTEE XX. 



Order Sarraceniales. 



Tliis interesting gronp of three families, Sarraceniaceae, Nepentlia- 

 ceae and Droseraeeae, is jnstly celebrated on account of the wonderful 

 adaptability of the leaves as insect traps. The plants are all herbs, 

 frequently of scapose or stemless habit, 

 with solitary or racemose flowers hav- 

 ing the ovary free from the calyx, be- 

 coming a capsule in fruit. The leaves 

 vary in the different families; in Sarra- 

 ceniaceae and Nepenthaceae they form 

 hollow receptacles which serve to catch 

 and retain water; numerous insects 

 crawl into the "intchers," and being 

 unable to escape, fall to the bottom, 

 where they are gradually macerated, 

 the liquid being ultimately absorbed. 

 In Droseraeeae the leaf surface, as will 

 be explained later, acts as a trap for 

 small insects. The group as a whole 

 is tropical, although with some repre- 

 sentatives in temperate regions. 



Family Sarraceniaceae. Pitcher- 

 plant Family. Consists of three gen- 

 era, Sarracenia, Chrysarnphora, and 

 Heliamphora, the last two monotypic, 

 the first containing about 8 species. 

 They are marsh plants with tubular 

 leaves, and large scapose nodding flowers. The sepals are 4 or 5, per- 

 sistent; the petals 5, or sometimes wanting; stamens numerous; ovary 

 several-celled, with a peculiar peltate (umbrella-shaped) style. (See 

 Fig. 101.) 



Fig. loi. The huntsman's cup or purple 

 pitcher-plant (Sa}racenia purpurea.) After 

 Britton & Brown, 111. Fl. Northeast. U. S. 



