342 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[November, 



lily, Nymphaea ampla, with its flowers placed on 

 long stems, rising six to twelve inches above the 

 water. Its flowers are about three inches in 

 diameter, white and very fragrant. Its large 

 floating leaves are crenately mucronate; under- 

 neath, prominently veined and reddish purple. 

 It would probably thrive in the waters of South- 

 western Texas, and may yet be found there. 



INSECTS IN PITCHERS OF NEPENTHES. 



BY CHARLES CRUCKNELL, ST. LOUIS, MO. 



I have just read your article on Nepenthes 

 rajah. My attention has been particularly di- 

 rected to the statement, "But no one appears to 

 have noticed that the Nepenthes catch insects, 

 and Darwin makes no mention of them among 

 his 'Insectivorous Plants.' " 



My impression is, that I examined at least 

 fifty pitchei-s last season, and found insects in 

 all of them. But to make sure of my position 

 in this matter, I went into the stove house this 

 morning and examined six pitchers taken j)ro- 

 miscuously from six different plants which are 

 suspended from the rafters of the house. The 

 first pitcher (N. Isevis), contained eight dead 

 flies. The second, a hybrid, had two centipedes 

 in it. The third had three flies, a blue-bottle 

 fly, two centipedes, an insect I did not recog- 

 nize, and several mosquitoes. The remaining 

 three had combinations of the above-named 

 insects in them. They had evidently been 

 drowned in the liquid secretion found in the 

 bottom of the pitchers. 



I have long since come to the conclusion that 

 a moist atmosphere, with a temperature ranging 

 from 85° to 100°, Fahrenheit, has more to do 

 with the size of the pitchers than anything else. 



assist in keeping the flocks on the pike until the 

 summit of the mountain was reached. 



I doubt if a large flock was ever driven acrosa 

 it without the loss of several from eating Kalmia. 

 I have seen them lie down to die before they 

 could be driven from the thickets into the high- 

 way. My grandfather kept large flocks of sheep, 

 and I can remember one occasion when a deep 

 snow fell leaving nothing green but the Kalmia, 

 and the flock could not be found until late the fol- 

 lowing day (being in a very large range). When 

 we found them a very large portion of the flock 

 weredead with the Kalmia leaves in their mouths. 

 They were found in groups about Kalmia plants — 

 in one case five died just where they ate. Within 

 two years my partner in the fruit farm had a 

 valuable heifer in company with a small flock 

 of sheep in a range where he had directed the 

 hired men to cut out all the Kalmia. In a few 

 places the Kalmia had sprouted up, and after a 

 fall of snow looked temptingly green. The heifer 

 was found dead with portions of the Kalmia 

 protruding from her mouth. I could multiply 

 these instances. But it seems to me a direct 

 experiment would convince the most skeptical. 

 Any one willing to sacrifice a sheep by allowing 

 it to eat Kalmia leaves, could have it demon- 

 strated to his satisfaction that it is a poison, 

 chemistry to the contrary notwithstanding. 



Sheep accustomed to the sight of it were never 

 known to eat it except when the ground was 

 covered with snow; but flocks driven by it from 

 the western country, would eat it if permitted. 



IS THE KALMIA POISONOUS? 



BY Q. A. LOBINGIER, STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. 



I have been observing the controversy re- 

 garding the poisonous qualities of Kalmia. 

 I confess I cannot understand why chemistry 

 fails to show that it is a most deadly poison. 

 My earliest recollections are coupled with the 

 aid the boys of my native village gave to the 

 men who drove cattle and sheep across the 

 mountains before the days of railroads. Our 

 village was at the base of the naountain, which 

 was three miles to its summit, and the pike, 

 lined on either side by dense thickets of Kalmia 

 — the especial dread of sheep drovers. The boys 

 of the village were employed by the drovers to 



INFLUENCE OF POLLEN IN CROSS- 

 I FERTILIZING. 



j BY E. S. CARMAN, EDITOR OF RURAL NEW YORKER. 



j " It is well known in hybridizing, that the 

 I female parent may be exactly reproduced though 

 i under the influence of pollen very unlike its 

 j own. This was proved especially by the experi- 

 ence of Mr. Francis Parkman among lilies; 

 Lilium Parkmanni being the only remarkable 

 I departure from the female type. There is proba- 

 I biy no reason why the inverse might not be true 

 ' — that is the female wholly reproducing the 

 male form, and this experience with the rose 

 points that way. — Ed. G. M." 



The above, from Gardener's Monthly, 1880, 

 page 311, reminds me of a bit of my own ex- 

 perience which is given below from the Rural 

 New Yorker, of August 12, page 537. 



" In this connection we beg to narrate a bit of 

 experience which may interest botanists who 

 have been engaged in crossing flowers. Four 

 years ago we raised several plants from the seeds 



