v.] REMARKABLE LEAVES. 79 
ing in Kew Gardens, where also will be found speci- 
mens of everything that is wonderful or beautiful in 
the vegetable world. 
There is a remarkable genus of tropical plants, 
which are also entitled to rank as Pitcher-plants, 
though they are not so called. We allude to the 
Tillandsias, or Tree-pines, which grow abundantly 
over the trees of Southern and Central America and 
the West Indies. Their leaves are dilated at the 
base into a cavity capable of containing more than 
a pint of fluid. From the channelled form of their 
leaves they catch large quantities of rain and dew 
which run into the basal cavity. Thirsty travellers 
are often thankful for the store of cool water thus 
retained for their use, even though it does sometimes 
contain a few dead insects, overtaken, doubtless, in 
their cups. A remarkable thing about this 77//andsia 
is, that its reservoirs afford a habitat for a water- 
plant, a species of Bladderwort (U¢ricularia), which 
is found nowhere else but in the leaves of the Tree- 
pine. The Bladderwort throws out runners which 
seek the nearest neighbouring leaf of Tzllandsia, 
and there form a new plant, which sends out more 
runners, and in this way a number of 77z//andsias are 
sometimes seen connected. 
We cannot boast, among the botanical productions 
of our own country, the possession of a genuine 
Pitcher-plant; but that is no reason why we should 
not make the most of what we have. In the com- 
mon Teazle (Dipsacus sylvestris) we have our nearest 
approach to a pitcher. The opposite leaves are 
united at their bases, and thus form a sort of basin 
