THE EPIPHYTES 159 
Another plant, Dischidia rafflesiana, be- 
longing to the very different family of Ascle- 
piads, may be considered in this connection 
though it is not strictly speaking an epiphyte. 
It commonly grows on rocky surfaces, but 
it is subjected, like the epiphyte, to the need 
of special adaptations for obtaining water. 
Its ordinary leaves are rather thick and fleshy, 
and thus are to be regarded as dealing econo- 
mically with such water as may be available. 
But some of its leaves undergo a most 
remarkable modification in the course of 
their development, and assume the form 
of pitchers. The mouth of the pitcher is 
directed upwards, and they are readily 
filled by the heavy showers that prevail in 
the regions of the Eastern Archipelago and 
Malay where the plant occurs. The utilisa- 
tion of the water is finally effected by small 
branching roots, which spring from the stem 
close to the insertion of the leaf pitcher. 
These enter it and ramify inside it. Often 
detritus of various sorts becomes washed into 
the pitcher, and thus it not only serves to 
collect water, but it actually provides soil 
for the plant as well. 
A few of the epiphytes have been chosen 
for consideration here because they so admir- 
ably illustrate the remarkable methods by 
which the difficulties of obtaining water have 
been overcome. An extended study of 
these remarkable plants would have shown 
this more in detail, for there is hardly any 
