t'l 



White and Greenish 



same principle that a vine's tendrils do when they come in con- 

 tact with a trellis. More of the sticky fluid pours upon the hap- 

 less lly, plastering over his legs and wings and the pores on his 

 body through which he draws his breath. Slowly, surely, the 

 leaf rolls inward, making a temporary stomach ; the cruel hairs 

 bind, the glue suffocates and holds him fast. Death alone releases 

 him. And now the leaf's orgie begins : moistening the fly with 

 a fresh peptic fluid, which helps in the assimilation, the plant 

 proceeds to digest its food. Curiously enough, chemical analysis 

 proves that this sundew secretes a complex fluid corresponding 

 almost exactly to the gastric juice in the stomach of animals. 



Darwin, who fed these leaves with various articles, found that 

 they could dissolve matter out of pollen, seeds, grass, etc. ; yet 

 without a human caterer, how could a leaf turn vegetarian ? When 

 a bit of any undesirable substance, such as chalk or wood, was 

 placed on the hairs and excited them, they might embrace it tem- 

 porarily; but as soon as the mistake was discovered, it would be 

 dropped ! He also poisoned the plants by administering acids, 

 and gave them fatal attacks of indigestion by overfeeding them 

 with bits of raw beef ! 



Other common sundews, the Spatulate-leaved species (D. in- 

 termedia) and the Thread-leaved Sundew (D. filifonnis), whose 

 purplish-pink flowers are reared above wet sand along the coast, 

 possess contrivances similar to the round-leaved plant's to pursue 

 their gruesome business. Why should these vegetables turn car- 

 nivorous ? Doubtless because the soil in which they grow can 

 supply little or no nitrogen. 'Very small roots testify to the small 

 use they serve. The water sucked up through them from the bog 

 aids in the manufacture of the fluid so freely exuded by the bristly 

 glands, but nitrogen must be obtained by other means, even at 

 the sacriflce of insect victims. 



Early Saxifrage 



{Saxijraga l^irginiensis) Saxifrage family 



Flowers — White, small, numerous, perfect, spreading into a loose 

 panicle. Calyx 5-Iobed ; 5 petals ; 10 stamens; i pistil with 

 2 styles. Scape: 4 to 12 in. high, naked, sticky-hairy. Leaves: 

 Clustered at the base, rather thick, obovate, toothed, and 

 narrowed into spatulate-margined petioles. Fruit: Widely 

 spread, purplish-brown pods. 



Preferred Habitat — Rocky woodlands, hillsides. 



Fhwerini^ Seasoft — Marc h — May. 



Distribiitio7i — New Brunswick to Georgia, and westward a thou- 

 sand miles or more. 



194 



