20 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



this Devil's-snare which stirs in the imaginative 

 mind vague, unnameable dread. If this be possible 

 with one plant already known to exist, where is 

 the hindrance to the attainment of similar or 

 greater power by the number of other carnivorous 

 plants, which already show by their habits traits so 

 cruel, so cunning, so avaricious, as to cause a shud- 

 der of horror to one observing them even in their 

 present diminutive form. 



There is another plant, a parasitical native of 

 Sumatra, whose flower already has attained propor- 

 tions that would, were it carnivorous in its habits, 

 render it a thing to be avoided by human beings 

 and animals for fear of their lives. This is the 

 ponderous Arnoldi, the flower of which is described 

 by Dr. Arnold, its discoverer, as measuring "a full 

 yard across," the bowl for nectar being large 

 enough to hold twelve pints, and the weight of a 

 single blossom being about fifteen pounds. Disas- 

 trous indeed might be the results if such a giant 

 plant were to develop, like the sundews and pitcher- 

 plants, a taste for meat ! 



