SARRACENIA. ^^^ 



The economy of the Sarracenia, an American ge=^ 

 nils of which we now know four'tpecies,and of the East 

 Indian Nepenthes distillatoria, deserve particular men^ 

 tion. Both grow in bogs, though not absolutely in the 

 water. The former genus has tubular leaves which 

 catch the rain like a funnel and retain it ; at least such is 

 the nature of S. purpurea. Curt. Mag. t. 849, whose 

 margin seems dilated expressly for this purpose, while 

 the orifice of the tubular part just below is contracted to 

 restrain evaporation. Linnaeus conceived this plant to 

 be allied in constitution to Nymphxa, and consequently 

 to require a more than ordinary supply of water, which 

 its leaves w^ere calculated to catch and to retain, so as to 

 enable it to live without being immersed in a river, or 

 pond. But the consideration of some other species ren- 

 ders this hypothesis very doubtful, S. Jlava, t.780, and 

 more especially S. adunca, Exot. Bot. t, 53, are so con^ 

 structed that rain is nearly excluded from the hollow of 

 their leaves, and yet that part contains water, which 

 seems to be secreted by the base of each leaf. What 

 then is the purpose of the unusual contrivance ? An 

 observation communicated to me two years ago, in the 

 botanic garden at Liverpool, seems to unravel the mys- 

 tery. An insect of the Sphex or Ichneumon kind, as far 

 as I could learn from description, was seen by one of 

 the gardeners to drag several large flies to the Sarracenia 

 adunca, and^ with some difficulty forcing them under the, 

 lid or cover of its leaf, to deposit them in the tubular 

 part, which was half filled with water. All the leaves, 

 on being examined, were found crammed with dead or 

 drowning tiies. The S. purpurea is usually observed 



