18 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



the taste of the voracious pitcher-plant; thus they 

 not only escape being eaten, but they get revenge 

 for the injury done to others! 



Of all lands where the pitcher-plants thrive, the 

 island of Borneo seems to be their paradise. They 

 are as plentiful in the mountains there as the wild 

 morning-glory is in America; small shrubs, trees, 

 and bushes are covered with their variegated and 

 variously shaped pitchers. Some look like small 

 trumpets, others are like dwarfed gourds; but all 

 seem diabolically planned death-traps! 



Of all plants which have the insect-eating habit, 

 perhaps none is more unusual than the Darling- 

 tonia. It is unquestionably the most beautiful of 

 the pitcher family, yet it is the least known. This 

 may be accounted for by the fact that it grows 

 high in the mountains, and is exceedingly rare. In 

 the swampy marsh-lands of Mount Shasta, Cali- 

 fornia, it is often found, but usually only by bot- 

 anists. It closely resembles the Sarracenia; the 

 pitchers are curved, and the cap extends into a 

 long cover overhanging the mouth. Its leaves look 

 like the tail of a beautiful bird. 



Many of the orchids such, for instance, as the 

 dainty moccasin-flower, loved of the mountain 

 children so shape their flowers that wingless in- 

 sects decoyed into them have small chance of escape. 



