BLADDEEWORT FAMILY 209 



absorbed by the leaf, to the consequent benefit of the 

 plant — an action astonishingly like that of the stomach in 

 deriving nourishment from food. The secretion is so 

 copious that it sometimes runs to the base of the leaf, and 

 its action is so powerful that a fly after lying in it for a f ew 

 hours falls to pieces if an attempt is made to move it. 

 Remains of minute insects are often seen on the leaves and 

 on the flower-stems. Pollen, also, acts as a stimulus on 

 the secreting cells. 



The leaves of a species of butterwort are used in north- 

 ern Europe to thicken milk. 



Pinguicula lutea. Flowers yellow, 1-2 in. across, some- 

 what bell-shaped, spurred below, solitary on leafless flower- 

 stem 6-15 in. tall. Corolla unequally 5-lobed, the lobes cleft. 

 Stamens 2. Leaves basal, pale green, oblong or oval, entire, 

 1-3 in. long. Low pinelands. Blooming in winter and 

 spring. Fla. to N. C. and La. 



Pinguicula elatior. Flowers purple, rarely pink, about 1 

 in. across. Leaves less than 2 in, long. Fla. to N. C. 



Pinguicula pumila. Flowers pale purple or white, rarely 

 yellow, about y2 in. across, on flower-stem 2-8 in. tall. Plants 

 small. Leaves 1 in. long or less. Low grounds. Fla. to S. C. 

 and Texas. 



Bladderworts (Genus Utricularia) 



Bladderworts, also, are brigands. Not content with the 

 innocent and universal task of the vegetable world — that 

 of converting the inorganic into the organic — they prac- 

 tise the brigandage of the animal world, and outwit and 

 murder. Attractive plants they are, however, with their 

 sunbonnet-like flowers of yellow and purple swung over 

 the water, flaunted by myriads above wet sand, or springing 

 up here and there in damp pinelands. 



Bladderworts that live in the water are remarkable for 

 their finely dissected floating leaves, which are frequently 

 mistaken for roots. The thread-like divisions of these 



