208 BLADDERWORT FAMILY 



Tnbiflora carolinensis. Flowers white, small, 5-lobed, in 

 dense spike terminating scaly flowering-stem 6-15 in. tall. 

 Stamens 2. Leaves basal, oblong or broadened upward, 2-6 

 in. long. Low woods. Blooming in summer. Fla. to S. C. 



BLADDERWORT FAMILY (Lentibulariaceae) 



Low, insectivorous plants growing in water or damp soil. 

 Flowers irregular, yellow or purple. Fruit a capsule. 



BuTTERWORTS (Genus Pinguicula) 



The beautiful yellow and purple butterworts are common 

 during winter and spring, growing in low pinelands and 

 in borders of marshes, where their moist, yellowish green 

 leaves lie close to the moist earth. The plants often grow 

 in great numbers, and each sends up many flowers during 

 the blossoming season. The flowers are peculiar in having 

 the calyx apparently placed, like a little five-pointed cap, 

 on the side of the corolla. Though fragile in appearance, 

 these flowers last many days. Marsh violets and bells are 

 local names. The older name of butterwort describes the 

 somewhat greasy surface of the insect-catching leaves, which 

 in shape suggest shallow troughs, as the margins are slightly 

 curved upward. 



The leaves are covered with a colorless secretion which 

 securely glues down small insects that touch it. The 

 plants are remarkably equipped for this treacherous work, 

 as a square centimeter of the surface contains, it is esti- 

 mated, 25,000 of these mucilage-secreting cells. The leaves 

 also have a slight power of movement, and when an in- 

 sect is caught near the edge of a leaf the margin rolls in- 

 ward, and either covers the insect or pushes it toward the 

 center of the leaf. As soon as an insect is caught — but 

 not before — a secretion of very different quality is poured 

 out, which covers the victim, and rapidly dissolves the 

 soluble parts of its body. This enriched secretion is then 



