188 INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS, 



either of the other species. Its leaves are ar- 

 ranged in a rosette and lie flat on the ground, or 

 on the moss among which they often grow. Some 

 of these little plants have a rosy, pink hue, and 

 look wonderfully attractive as they sparkle in the 

 sunshine. No doubt the glistening brightness 

 lures many little thirsty insects to the cool-look- 

 ing, dewy leaves. But no sooner does one touch 

 a leaf than it finds itself held by the deceptive, 

 sticky fluid, and the more it struggles to become 

 free, the more it is entangled. As it stretches and 

 reaches out to get away, it only comes more and 

 more in contact with other bristling filaments, 

 until finally it has no power to move, and the re- 

 maining filaments which it did not reach are all 

 soon curved and bent toward the poor captive, 

 which is quickly bathed in the slimy secretion, 

 and dies within ten or twenty minutes after it is 

 caught. This secretion dissolves or digests all 

 the soft parts of the little victim which are ab- 

 sorbed by the plant, while the shelly, indigestible 

 parts remain on the leaf until it becomes dry, 

 when the particles are blown off. As soon as the 

 insect is disposed of, the tentacles resume their 

 erect position and the glands again begin to se- 

 crete the sticky dew in readiness for more prey. 



