116 



HUTCHINSOX'S POPULAR BOTANY 



many species these singular structures are richly marked and show both 

 beauty and variety of form. Observe, for example, the exquisite Nature- 

 painting on the bowl and lid of Nepenthes mixta, and the curious corrugated 

 rim with which it is provided (fig. 144). This rim is not merely ornamental. 

 It strengthens the mouth of the pouch and keeps it distended : and more- 

 over, it secretes the honey by means of which insects are attracted to the 

 plant and eventually into the death-pool below. 



Another interesting species of pouch-like fly-catcher, though not 

 belonging to the Nepenthes, is the diminutive and almost stemless New 

 Holland Pitcher-plant (Cephalotus follicularis), a native of Western Australia, 

 where -it was discovered by the French naturalist, Labillardiere, more than 

 seventy years ago (fig. 154). Dr. Tait has found that the acid secretion of 

 certain glands on the inner surface of the pouches of this plant will digest 

 shreds of albumen and insects, and therefore that the plant is truly 

 carnivorous; and certainly the pitchers are wonderfully adapted for the 

 capture and retention of their living prey. The corrugated rim " ends 

 abruptly on the inner margin in a row of inflexed teeth," and " below the 

 rim is a ledge extending round the inside of the pitcher, with its acute edge 

 projecting downwards into the cavity, forming a kind of contracted neck. 

 This is called the conducting shelf. Below this, again, the upper two-thirds 



of the walls are smooth and glandular. 

 At the lower margin of this smooth sur- 

 face an oblique curved elevation extends 

 on each side, and below all is the bottom 

 of the pitcher, which is smooth and 

 without glands. The surface of the con- 

 ducting shelf is furnished with hairs 

 projecting downwards." 



Dr. Macfarlane found that, by first 

 giving Nepenthes insects for the purpose 

 of stimulating the flow of digestive 

 fluid, he could get it to reduce fibrin 

 to the condition of jelly in less than 

 an hour. 



A reflective person is apt to inquire, 

 Why were insectivorous plants ever given 

 a place in Creation ? and it certainly does 

 seem strange that objects in the Vegetable 

 World should be made the instruments 

 of destruction to objects in the sister 

 kingdom ; though we have long been 

 reconciled to the existence and necessity 

 of an opposite condition of things. That 

 ants and aphides should thrive and grow 



Ph to 6y] [S. L. Bastin. 



FIG. 150. CALIFORNIA^ PITCHER 



(DarUngtonia californica). 



The entrance to the pitcher is here covered by a 



hood. Insects crawling along either platform find 



themselves just under the entrance. Its habits 



are similar to those of Sarracenia. 



