Chapter III — 49 — Darlingtonia 



Experiments done by the same authors to determine if other 

 enzymes than protease might be detected in Darlingtonia gave nega- 

 tive results except for diastase, of which, however, only a trace could 

 be detected. Maltase, invertase, emulsin and urease were absent. 

 It seems, therefore, indisputable that this plant depends solely upon 

 the activity of bacteria to provide the absorbable protein and other 

 nutrients, if any, through the pitcher walls. Edwards' opinion, ex- 

 pressed in 1876, turned out to be correct. 



The presence of bacteria and their activities were observed by 

 Hepburn ct al. A chemical study of the pitcher fluid was made by 

 these authors who found that in closed, plugged and open pitchers, a 

 small amount of nitrogen could be recovered, viz. 0.027% from closed 

 pitchers, 0.015 % to 0.009% from plugged pitchers and 0.034 f; to 0.049 % 

 from open pitchers. The fluid studied has a specific gravity of 1.003 

 at 15 degrees C. and contained 0.213% solids, 0.104% ash, and 0.046% 

 calcium oxide (lime) forming 44.23 % of the ash. Chlorides were present. 

 No reducing sugars could be found, though it is quite probable that 

 such may sometimes be present by contamination with the nectar 

 found elsewhere on the walls of the pitcher. 



Literature Cited: 



Ames, Mary E. P., Calif. Horticulturalist and Floral Magazine 10:225-229, 1880. Quotes 



a letter from Mrs. Austin re increase of fluid in pitchers of Darlingtonia. 

 Arbee {see under Cephalotus). 

 Austin, R. M. L., Brief an Dr. K. Keck, iiber Darlingtonia. Oester. Bot. Zeitschr. 1876: 



1 70-171. 

 Barnhart, J. H., Brackenridge and his book on Ferns. Journ. N. Y. Bot. Card. 23:117- 



124, 1919. . 



Batalin, a., tjber die Function der Epidermis in den Schlauchen von Sarracema und Dar- 

 lingtonia. Acta Hort. Petropolitani 7:346-359. 1880. 



Braun, a., Uber Darlingtonia californica Torrey. Sitzungsber. d. Gesellsch. naturf. 



Freunde, Berlin 1873:73-75- , ^ * a a c • 



Canbv, Wm. M., Darlingtonia californica, an msectivorous plant. Proc. A. A. A. bci. 

 1874:64-72, Salem, Mass. 1878. Reprinted in Oester. Bot. Zeitschr. 1875:287-293. 



D.ARWiN, C, Insectivorous Plants. London 1875. 



Edv.'ards, Henry, Darlingtonia californica Torrey. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 6:161-166, 1875 

 (published in 1876). 



GoEBEL, K., Pflanzenbiologische Schilderungen. Part 2, V. Insectivoren. Marburg, 1891. 



Gray, Asa, (Description of the seed of Darlingtonia). Amer. Journ. of Science and Arts, 

 2 ser. 35:136-7, 1863. 



Gray, Asa, Darwiniana. Appleton, New York 1876, 330 pp. (Cites Austin's Observa- 

 tions on fluid in pitchers of Darlingtonia). 



Hepburn, J. S., F. M. Jones & Eliz. Q. St. John, Biochemical studies of North Ameri- 

 can Sarraceniaceae. Trans. Wagner Free Inst. Phila. 11:1-95. 1927- A very full bib- 

 liography. 



Hooker, J. D., On the carnivorous habits of some of our brother organisms — plants. 

 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Belfast 1874. . 



Kurtz, F., Zur Kenntnis der Darlingtonia californica Torrey. Verhandl. Bot. Vereins 

 Brandenburg, meeting June 2, 1878, 24 pp. 



Lemmon, J. G., Brief an Dr. K. Keck iiber Darlingtonia. Oester. Bot. Zeitschr. 1876: 35. 



Macbride, J., On the power of Sarracenia adnnca to entrap insects. Trans. Linn. Soc. 

 London 12:48-52, 1817 (read in 1815). 



Macfarlane, J. M., Observations on the pitchered insectivorous plants, I. Ann. Bot. 

 3:253-266, 1889, 1890. 



Macfarlane, J. M., Observations on the pitchered insectivorous plants, II. Ann. Bot. 

 7^.03-458, 1893. 



Mellichamp, J. H., Letter to Dr. Hooker on the CaUfornia pitcher plant. Gard. Chron. 



1871:46. 

 Mellichamp, J. H., Notes on Sarracenia variolaris. Proc. A. A. A. S. 23 meeting, 1874. 

 1875:113-133. An earlier communication appeared in Gard. Chron. 1874:818-819, 

 earlier published in the N. Y. Tribune by Asa Gray. 



