THIS PLANT EATS AND 

 DIGESTS INSECTS 



The pitcher plant (Darlingtonia) 

 shown here, which grows in the high 

 mountains of California, has perfected 

 an ingenious contrivance for catching 

 and digesting insects. At the top of the 

 pitcher, so called, seen above, there is an 

 opaque lattice work in the interstices of 

 which is a translucent, micalike sub- 

 stance. The insect, entering from be- 

 neath in search of shelter, finds itself in 

 a cosy chamber, well lined and weather- 

 proof. Once inside the chamber, how- 

 ever, it discovers that it is being swal- 

 lowed, irresistibly, and the plant finally 

 deposits it in the stomach below, where 

 it digests it with a secretion akin to 

 hydrochloric acid. There are several 

 other known carnivorous plants, show- 

 ing that at some time in their ancestry 

 the soil has not given them sufficient 

 nutriment for their needs. 



