390 PINGUICULA GRANDIFLOEA. Chap. XVI. 



amount of pollen must be blown from the many 

 wind-fertilised carices, grasses, &c., growing where 

 Pinguicula lives, on to the leaves thickly covered with 

 viscid glands and forming large rosettes. Even a few 

 grains of pollen on a single gland causes it to 

 secrete copiously. We have also seen how fre- 

 quently the small leaves of Erica tetralix and of 

 other plants, as well as various kinds of seeds and 

 fruits, especially of Carex, adhere to the leaves. One 

 leaf of the Pinguicula had caught ten of the little 

 leaves of the Erica ; and three leaves on the same 

 plant had each caught a seed. Seeds subjected 

 to the action of the secretion are sometimes killed, 

 or the seedlings injured. We may, therefore, con- 

 clude that Finguicula vulgaris, with its small roots, 

 is not only supported to a large extent by the extra- 

 ordinary number of insects which it habitually cap- 

 tures, but likewise draws some nourishment from the 

 pollen, leaves, and seeds of other plants which often 

 adhere to its leaves. It is therefore partly a vegetable 

 as well as an animal feeder. 



Pinguicula geandiflora. 



This species is so closely allied to the last that it is 

 ranked by Dr. Hooker as a sub-species. It differs 

 chiefly in the larger size of its leaves, and in the 

 glandular hairs near the basal part of the midrib 

 being longer. But it likewise differs in constitution; 

 I hear from ]\Ir. Kalfs, who was so kind as to send 

 me plants from Cornwall, that it grows in rather 

 difierent sites ; and Dr. Moore, of the Glasnevin 

 Botanic Gardens, informs me that it is much more 

 manageable under culture, growing freely and flower- 

 ing annually ; whilst Finguicula vulgaris has to be 

 renewed every year. Mr. Ralfs found numerous 



