LUTHER BURBANK 
“We have, too, in many parts of the country 
plants which have learned to snare and trap 
insects and even animals, and to digest them and 
to live on them. 
“Among these carnivorous plants are the com- 
mon pitcher plants, and the Venus fly trap. 
“The pitcher plants, instead of belonging only 
to one family, are to be found in a number of 
different families, thus showing that environment 
has produced a similar strain of heredity in 
separate kinds of plants which are not kin to 
each other. 
“One of the pitcher plants which grows abun- 
dantly in the moist places of the Sierras and in 
northern California even catches frogs, small 
animals and birds. The plant seems especially 
devised to lure the animals into its pitcher. Above 
the pitcher is a little lattice and an opening, like a 
window, through which the light can shine. The 
insects and the animals see a haven from the sun 
and rain, and as they go in, there are little fingers 
on the plant which push them along and keep 
them from coming back. 
“Once securely in the trap, the plant secretes a 
digestive juice, like our own gastric juice, and 
absorbs the animal life as food. 
“In these traps it is common to find all kinds 
of insects—including the undigested wings and 
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