198 ANNUAL REPORT 



leaves, which grow as a rosette or star around the base of the 

 flower stem. Only the lower leaves are transformed into traps, 

 chiefly to catch wingless insects crawling upon the earth. All 

 the pitcher-like traps rest upon the moist soil, and possess leafy 

 projections, upon which crawling animals can approach the open- 

 ings or traps. Of course flying insects are not excluded, but 

 are also invited by bright colors to sip honey. The half opened 

 lid, with white spots and bright vermilion red veins, is easily 

 mistaken for a flower. Both winged and unwinged animals and 

 insects, which are lured by the honey to enter the mouth, soon 

 loose their foothold upon the very smooth inner walls, and drop 

 into the fluid, which fills nearly one-half of the cavity. Even if 

 they should not be drowned, the prisoners have to surmount 

 three different kinds of obstacles in their road to liberty. First, 

 a rim projecting inwards; second, a piece of wall densely cov- 

 ered with stiff" and sharp bristles pointing downward; third, a 

 row of hook-like teeth near the mouth. The numerous corpses 

 found in such traps clearly show how well adapted this prison 

 is to retain its victims. Ants form the staple of their food. 

 Their dead bodies are not changed, however, into liquid manure, 

 but they are dissolved by a clear acid fluid secreted by glands in 

 the inside of the traps. This process is similar to that taking 

 place in the traps of the true Pitcher plants or Nepenthes (Fig. 8). 

 Of this latter species we know about thirty-six species; they are 

 all tropical plants, and all grow in swampy soil near ponds; the 

 young plants have a great resemblance to the Sarracenia, as seen 

 in Fig. 7; when mature they look like real lianas growing in the 

 crowns of medium sized trees. The pitchers [Fig. 5, (4)] must be 

 considered as an excavated portion of the leaf-stem, and the piece 

 acting as the lid is the real leaf. Such pitchers vary greatly in size 

 in different species; the largest is Nepenthes rajah, which is large 

 enough to snugly shelter a pigeon. The younger pitchers are still 

 closed with their lids; their color varies greatly, from rusty brown, 

 golden, powdered with white, to snow-white, and all are very hairy. 

 When full grown the lid is lifted, the outer covering of hair dis- 

 appears, and a yellowish-green color prevails, enlivened by ver- 

 milion spots and veins, or by other bright colors. The lid is 

 equally brightly colored, and the whole pitcher — or a leaf — re- 

 sembles very closely fhefioioer of certain species of Aristolochia, 

 and strange to say the genera Nepenthes and Aristolochia are also 

 closely related. 

 Insects, and perhaps other flying animals, are attracted to this 



