88 SUNDEW FAMILY 



Each small leaf bears many tentacle-like hairs, sticky 

 at the tips, and capable of moving, like scores of greedy 

 fingers, whenever an unlucky insect chances to alight on 

 the leaf. As the tiny tentacles converge on their prey 

 the leaf curls inward, and a digestive ferment is poured 

 out that dissolves the soluble parts of the insect's body. 

 This secretion, enriched by the dissolved nutriment, is 

 absorbed by the leaf, which later opens again, ready for 

 more food. 



Insectivorous plants are most abundant where the soil 

 is poor in nitrogen, and in such locations a plant's ability 

 to increase its food-supply in this way is of especial benefit 

 to it. 



Drosera intermedia. Flowers white, small, several in 

 raceme. Sepals, petals, and stamens usually 5 each.. Flower- 

 ing-stem 2-8 in. tall. Rosette of leaves 2-5 in. across. Leaves 

 small, broadened upward, leaf-stalks not glandular. Bogs 

 and wet sand. Blooming from spring to fall. Fla. to La. 

 and northward. 



Drosera capiUaris. Flowers pink. Flowering stem 3-15 

 in. tall, with several or many flowers. Wet places. Fla. to 

 S. C. 



Drosera rotundifolia. Flowers white. Flowering-stem 8-12 

 in. tall. Leaves small, roundish. Leaf-stalks glandular. 

 Bogs and wet sand. Fla. to Ala. and northward. 



Drosera brevifolia. Flowers white, V-? in. across. Few. 

 Flowering-stem 2-6 in. tall. Leaves very short wedge-shaped. 

 Eosette of leaves only about 1 in. across. Low pinelands. 

 Blooming in winter and spring. Fla. to N. C. 



Drosera filifonnis. Flowers purple, rarely white, V2-\ in. 

 across. Leaves thread-like, 6-15 in. long. Wet places, chiefly 

 near the coast. Blooming in spring and summer. Fla. to 

 Mass. 



