Francis E. Lloyd — 52— Carnivorous Plants 



is a small or larger spur. The pitcher is always held in an upright 

 position. When young the various parts are clothed with a tight rusty 

 pubescence of curiously branched hairs. In cKmbing, often to the 

 crowns of tall trees (i6 to 20 meters: N. bicalcarata, Rafflesiana, etc. 

 according to Macfarlane), the plant supports itself by means of the 

 stout tendrils. It sometimes grows epiphytically, as in the case of 

 N. Veitchii (Burbidge, 1880). Such species may have cHmbing stems 

 3 cm. in diameter. Troll (1932) has given us an excellent^ word 

 picture of the appearance of N. ampullaria {4 — 9) in its habitat. 



"I came across N. ampullaria among the massive vegetations of a 

 swamp-forest on the island of Siburut, off the west coast of Sumatra. 

 It was a fabulous, unforgettable sight. Everywhere, through the 

 network of lianas the peculiarly formed pitchers of this species gleamed 

 forth, often in tight clusters; and, most remarkably, the muddy, moss 

 overgrown soil was spotted with the pitchers of this plant, so that one 

 got the impression of a carpet. How is this pecuUar behavior to be 

 explained? 



"iV. ampullaria develops a rhizome which creeps in the earth or 

 between clumps of moss. This sends out one or more hana-like shoots 

 which cHmb high into the trees, and at their ends, where they can en- 

 joy bright illumination, they become leafy. The leaves of these long 

 shoots are of the usual type — they possess a well developed lamina 

 and a functional tendril. Elsewhere the Manas are bare or have re- 

 mains of dead leaves clinging to them. 



"Of quite a different appearance are the pitcher leaves which are 

 found on the ground. True, the pitchers are well developed, but the 

 tendrils are always short and serve only to hold them in an upright 

 position. 



"If one searches for the attachments of these simplified leaves, 

 they will be found to occur on short branches, just as Goebel de- 

 scribed them. It has been overlooked, however, that they are not con- 

 fined to the main rhizome but spring also from numerous prostrate 

 stems which attain a considerable thickness. Such branches may be 

 followed for a distance of several meters along the soil surface quite 

 easily because of the numerous dense clusters of pitchers which are 

 strung along them." {Translated). 



Earlier observers in some cases thought that the lid of the pitcher 

 is capable of motion, and so to close and open its mouth. Loureiro 

 is mentioned by Sims (1826) to have held this view. But this of 

 course is not the case — the Hd attains a quite fixed posture, usually 

 overhanging the mouth of the pitcher, but sometimes turned quite back. 



The morphology of the very highly specialized leaf of Nepenthes 

 can best be considered by a comparison of the mature condition with 

 that met with in the leaves of seedUngs and of adventitious shoots 

 on cuttings. The former have been studied by Dickson, J. D. Hooker, 

 Goebel, Macfarlane and Stern. In spite of a general uniform- 

 ity of evidence, with exceptions to be noted, there is a wide divergence 

 of opinion as to the homology of the parts, Macfarlane regarding 

 the leaf as a p'nnate structure and Goebel as a simple leaf with a 

 highly specialized region forming the ascidium or pitcher. These and 

 other interpretations will be considered. 



