LESSONS IN BOT 



185 



tain plant* cucumber 



:.Tgo this metaiiK : 



linuichea themselves which change; auoh for example, 

 urv tho tcinlril.s of the vino : 



Hut tho uiost curious modification of the leaf is seen in tho 

 pitcher-plants, Borne of which are roprosonted in the diagram 

 7 ). In one of those tho leaf tapers into a stalk, at the ex- 

 tremity of which tho 

 pitcher irt mtuutcd, tho 

 arangomont being such 

 1 hut tho pitcher shall al- 

 ways retain its upright 

 position. The pitohor is 

 covered by a well-fitting 

 lid. 



In another kind, also 

 fitfurod in our plate, tho 

 pitcher is made up of tho 

 whole loaf, and there is 

 no lid, BO that the orifico 

 is constantly wide open ; 

 and there are also other ^ 

 varieties. 



We must not qnit tho 

 subject of leaves without 

 devoting a passing word 

 to the gigantic leaf of 

 tho Victoria regia, one of 

 the tribe of Nymphaeacece, 



or water-lilies, and a na- 

 tive of Central America. 

 A specimen of this truly 



and finding that it sprang Irom a mall root which ran horiion. 

 tally (about as largo as two fingtr* or a little more). I soon 

 detached it and removed it to oar hat. To tell yoa the 

 had I been alone and had there been no nitnesase, I ib< i 

 think, have been fearful of mentioning the dimensions of this 

 flower, ao much does it exceed every flower I hare ever seen or 

 heard of ; but I had Sir Stamford and Lady Baffle* with ice, 



and Mr. Palagravc, * re- 

 spectable man resident 

 at Manna, who, though 

 all of them are equally 

 aatonuhed with BiyaelS, 

 yet are able to testify to 

 the truth. 



" The whole flower was 

 of a very thick substance, 

 the petals and nectary 

 being in bat few places 

 less than a quarter of an 

 inch thick, and in aome 

 places three-quarters of 

 an inch ; the substance 

 of it was very succulent. 

 When I first aaw it a 

 swarm of flies was hover- 

 ing over the month of 

 the nectary, and appa- 

 rently laying their eggs 

 in the substance of it. 



It had precisely the 



58. THE VICTORIA EEGIA WATKB-XJLY, IN TUB COMSEEVATOttT AT CHATSWOETH. Smell of tainted beef. 



The calyx consisted of 



several roundish, dark-brown, concave leaves, which seemed 

 to be indefinite in number, and were unequal in size. There 



wonderful plaiit is now flourishing in great vigour at Kow 



Gardens. Its leaves are from fifteen to eighteen feet in , ., 



diameter, and its flowers and capsule, or seed-case, proper- I were five petals attached to the nectary, which were thick, and 



tionately large. Fig. 58 is an engraving of this wonderful ' 

 plant. A child is represented standing on one of its floating 

 leaves, which, on account of its size, acts the part of a boat, 

 and supports the child on the surface of the water. 



While we are calling 

 attention to the enor- 

 mons leaves and beau- 

 tiful flowers of the 

 Victoria regia, we may 

 direct" the student to 

 another giant flower, 

 the largest indeed 

 known, Rajjlesia Ar- 

 noldi (Fig. 586), which 

 was discovered by a 

 botanist of repute, Dr. 

 Arnold, in 1818, when 

 on an excursion into 

 the interior of Suma- 

 tra with Sir Thomas 

 Stamford KafHes and 

 some other friends. 

 The following is Dr. 

 Arnold's account of 

 the discovery of this 

 monster plant and tho 

 general appearance of 

 itsblossoms. Theplant 

 was found on the banks 

 ofthoMannariver.not ^ ^ a^siA AEKOLDI 



covered with protuberances of a yellowish-white, varying in 

 size, the interstices being of a brick-red colour. The nectarium 

 was cyathiform (cup-shaped), becoming narrower towards the 

 top. The centre of the nectarium gave rise to a large pistil, 



which I can hardly 

 describe, at the top of 

 which were about 

 twenty processes, 

 somewhat curved, and 

 sharp at the end, re- 

 sembling a cow's horn ; 

 there were as many 

 smaller, very short 

 processes. A little 

 more than half-way 

 down, a brown cord, 

 about the size of com- 

 mon whipcord, bat 

 quite smooth, sur- 

 rounded what perhaps 

 is the germen, and a 

 little below it was 

 another cord, some- 

 what moniliform 

 (shaped like a neck- 

 lace). 



"Now for tho di- 

 mensions, which are 



far from Pulo Leb 

 ban: 



" Here," says Dr. Arnold in a letter to a friend, " I rejoice to 

 tell you I happened to meet with what I consider as the greatest 

 prodigy of the vegetable world. I had ventured some way from 

 the party, when one of the Malay servants came running to me 

 with wonder in his eyes, and said, ' Come with me, sir, come ! a 

 flower, very large, beautiful, wonderful ! ' I immediately went 

 with the man about a hundred yards into the jungle, and he 

 pointed to a flower growing close io the ground, under the 

 bushes, which was truly astonishing. My first impulse was to 

 cut it up and carry it to the hut. I therefore seized the Malay's 

 parang (a sort of instrument like a woodman's chopping-hook), 



the most astonishing' 

 part of the flower. It 

 measures a full yard 

 across ; the petals, 



which were snbrotund, being twelve inches from the base to the 

 apei, and it being about a foot from the insertion of the one 

 petal to the opposite one. The nectarium, in the opinion of all 

 of us, would hold twelve pints ; and the weight of thia prodigy 

 we calculated to be fifteen pounds." 



This curious plant forms one of a distinct order called Rajle*- 

 iaceae, which will be noticed in a future lesson. Like our 

 mistletoe it is a parasite, and grows on the prostrate stems and 

 roots of plants ; but unlike the mistletoe, the plant is peculiar 

 in having no leaves, or any organ like the phyllodium, or en- 

 larged petiole of the Australian acacia, that resembles a leaf. 



