PLANTS THAT EAT INSECTS 13 



drink of the nectar; he steps on one of the sen- 

 sitive nerve-hairs ; the leaf-trap snaps shut and the 

 plant devours its meat at leisure, first soaking it 

 with a sticky digestive fluid. When the insect has 

 been entirely absorbed, the leaf opens again and 

 carefully resets its trap. 



The sundew is a striking plant of this meat-eat- 

 ing family. What a harmless looking, dainty 

 thing it is! All grouped together in little col- 

 onies, it grows close to the ground. Its leaves, 

 which are arranged in small rosettes, are covered 

 with scarlet tentacles, and at the tip of each of 

 these tentacles, or hairs, is a minute drop of honey, 

 which glistens like dew with the sun on it: hence 

 the plant's name, sundew. From the centre of 

 the rosette-leaves, a slender stalk shoots up sev- 

 eral inches into the air, and is covered at the upper 

 end with delicate, pinkish-violet flowers. The re- 

 sult of this beautiful arrangement of colours and 

 forms is a seductively inviting trap to the unwary. 



However, it is not to the eye of the insect, but 

 to his stomach, that the most direct appeal is made. 

 The insects are attracted not by the flowers but 

 by the glistening, dew-like hairs; and as soon as a 

 poor wanderer tries to drink the drops of honey 

 so temptingly displayed, he becomes hopelessly 

 entangled among the sticky-ended tentacles. The 



