326 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES PITA 



in some of the Italian warehouses in London ; about 1300 cwts. 

 are annually imported from Aleppo. They are considered by 

 Bible commentators to be the nuts sent by Jacob into Egypt. 



Pita, a name in many parts of tropical America for the 

 fibre of the American Aloe (Agave americana), and other allied 

 species. It forms the chief article of clothing of the natives, 

 and ropes and whips are made of it. 



Pitch. {See Pine Trees.) 



Pitcher Plants, a common name for certain plants whose 

 leaves, instead of being flat, are united by their edges, thus 

 forming tubular or ursulate vessels of various forms and sizes, 

 furnished with a lid, and capable of holding water ; their interiors 

 are lined with hairs pointing downwards, by which insects are 

 entrapped. 



Pitcher Plant, Australian {Cej^ludotus follicularis), is a 

 beautiful and singular little plant, growing in the form of a 

 rosette about 3 or 4 inches in diameter, having small, narrow, 

 spathulate leaves, alternate with which are foot-stalks bearing 

 small pitchers, furnished with a lid attached on the inner side, 

 and resembling a saucepan or goblet, the foot-stalk correspond- 

 ing to the handle. The flowers are small, and borne on an 

 erect stalk, 6 inches or more in height, forming a spike. It is a 

 native of King George's Sound, South- West Australia, growing 

 in marshy places like our sundews. It was introduced into Ivew 

 in 1823 ; it continues to be rare, and is considered more as a 

 botanical curiosity. The plant is now put in the order Saxi- 

 fragaceae. 



Pitcher Plant, Californian {Darlingtonia caUfomica), a 

 remarkable perennial herb of the Side-saddle Flower family 

 (Sarraceniacese). This curious plant is a native of California, 

 growing in marshes. The leaves rise in a fascicle from a crowned 

 root-stock ; they are tubular, varying in length from 1 to 2 feet, 

 the lower part nearly erect, widening upwards ; the upper part 

 much wider, and abruptly bent downwards like an inflated hood 

 or sac, terminated by a lateral two-parted lobe, which in the 

 early stage closes the pitcher like a lid ; the inside of the hood 



