1900-1901. | Haunts of the Venus’ Fly-trap. 221 
wet ground, where there is little oxygen supply, these surface 
roots are an effort made by the tree to procure from the atmo- 
sphere what it cannot sufficiently extract from the soil—namely, 
oxygen. The appearance presented by these trees with surface 
growths, two or three feet high, around them, was fantastic 
in the extreme. 
Another tree which claimed notice was the long-leaved or 
southern pine (Pinus palustris or P. australis). In itself a 
magnificent tree, attaining a height of from 60 to 70 feet, it is 
valuable as furnishing large quantities of what are known as 
“naval supplies ”—namely, tar, pitch, resin, and turpentine. 
The method of extracting the resin by tapping or “ slashing ” 
the trees was minutely described; and the destruction of the 
tree by forest-fires was deplored. 
The presence of large numbers of the trumpet plant (Sarra- 
cenia flava) in this district was next dwelt upon, the pond banks 
and swamps being often bordered by this curious insectivorous 
form, only to be seen in Botanic Gardens and a few private 
establishments in Britain. As regards this plant, the lecturer 
said that when the type botanic garden in connection with 
the university at Philadelphia was being formed, a number of 
Sarracenias were procured from their native habitat and planted 
in the garden. The result was that they were so abundantly 
visited by moths and other insects of the district, that at the 
end of the season the pitchers were found stuffed with their 
dead bodies, while the plants themselves perished. When 
another lot of Sarracenias was procured, the precaution was 
_ taken to plug the pitchers after planting. 
The camping-ground was next shifted to Silver Lake, some 
eight miles farther south. Of the insectivorous plants, three 
species of butterworts were here found—namely, Pingwicula 
lutea, P. pumila, and P. elatior. But the great feature of 
this locality was the Venus’ fly-trap (Dionea muscipula). It 
occurs in such numbers that from thirty to forty plants may 
be counted in a sod a few inches square. In fact, so abundant 
is it that there is little fear of its becoming exterminated 
through the scientific ardour of botanists, the chief danger being 
from forest-fires, which often cause great havoc. To adequately 
describe this plant, which might be termed, the lecturer said, 
the most wonderful plant in the world, would require a 
