PITCHER PLANTS WHAT ARE THEY? 



349 



ot our Northern Sarracenia. The lowermost 

 of all these specimens is down in the left- 

 hand corner ; it is not a perfect flower, but it 

 shows very beautifully the pale, greenish 

 ovary at the center of its anterior aspect, 



PERFECTION 

 Fig. 3 Form of perfect leaves. 



surrounded by the five broad, purplish and 

 green-mottled sepals. There are three little 

 bracelets at the bases of these, but they do 

 not show in the cut. Next to this example, 

 and directly above it, we have a perfect 

 flower of this pitcher-plant. It is seen upon 

 a slightly oblique anterior view. The broad, 

 fiddle-shaped petals five in number lap 

 over each other and hide the ovary. Sur- 

 rounding them, we may again see the big, 

 overlapping sepals. The tallest flower seen 

 in this group shows one upon direct lateral 

 view. Here the ovary is out of sight, over- 

 shadowed by the beautiful, subhemispherical, 

 umbrella-like style, which is of a fine pea- 

 green color, marked with shallow grooves 

 radiating from its center. In the specimen 

 to the right of this one, we are to note that 

 this green style is of a conical form, which is 

 of extremely rare occurrence. The flower 

 immediately below it, in the lower right-hand 

 corner, is the oldest in the group; its sepals 

 are a bit ragged, while the style is almost 

 ready to drop oft. 



But the great wonder of the pitcher-plant 

 is its leaves not its flowers. Figure 3 

 clearly shows two of the former in the fore- 

 ground. Each leaf springs from the center 

 of the plant by a stem of moderate propor- 

 tions ; this gradually expands and impercepti- 

 bly merges into the so-called pitcher-like leaf, 

 the formation of which has in time come 

 about by the complete sealing together of the 



upper surfaces of the proximal two-thirds of the marginal portion of 

 the leaf. This forms a raised keel of greater or less width on the side 

 toward the stem of the plant (Fig. 2). Distally, the remaining third of 

 this curious structure is formed into a fluted, open spout, outwardly 

 continuous with the general surface of the bowl, the opening being 

 toward the center of the plant or flower-stem. Young leaves or 

 "pitchers" are generally of a pale green color, sometimes finely 

 veined with red; older leaves are a much darker green, beautifully, 

 as well as generously, veined with dark purple. 



There is considerable variance in form among the leaves ; as they . 

 attain the required size, these hollow, trumpet-like affairs fill with 

 water during every rainstorm. This largely evaporates, leaving the 

 receptacle half-full. Externally these cups are smooth, while in- 

 ternally they are lined with fine bristles, pointing downwards. There 

 is also a sticky, sugary sort of semi-fluid substance to be found 

 around the inner margin of the bowl or pitcher. This arrangement 

 not only attracts a large number of tiny insects, but they are so 

 eager to feast upon the sugary substance that not a few of them 

 tumble into the water below and die there. They cannot fly out for 

 the lines of flight would be practically vertical, while the hundreds 

 of little bristles confronting them prevent escape over the surface by 

 walking out. Many believe that the plant, through its leaves, absorbs 

 digestible parts of these insects, and that they thus contribute to its 

 nutrition, in other words, that the pitcher-plant is, to this extent, 

 one of the carnivores of the vegetable kingdom. There is one fact 

 appreciated by the en- 

 tomologist ; he often 

 finds some rare little 

 insects among the vic- 

 tims of the lures of 

 this fatal well of the 

 pitcher-plant leaf. Dr. 

 L. O. Howard has 

 stated that the larvae 

 of the mosquito are 

 sometimes found in 

 these wells. Some- 

 times one of the 

 leaves, with its red 

 veins and general 

 raw-beef appearance, 

 associated with the 

 carrion-like odor of 

 the contents of its 

 concavity, attracts 

 numbers of carrion 

 flies ; these specimens 

 are, as a rule, es- 

 pecially fitted for the 

 cross - fertilization of 

 the flowers. 



The leaves change 

 very materially in several respects if the plants are kept in the house, 

 and do not receive much sunlight. I made some experiments along 

 this line, and I found that the leaves not only diminished much in 

 size, but varied greatly in form. As to color, they generally became a 

 clear, pale green, with little or no perceptible veining. The most 

 curious and interesting thing was, however, to see the hollow 

 pitcher-part gradually become absorbed, almost entirely disappearing 



THE ROOT GROWTH 



Fig. 4 Characters of the roots; a small plant complete 

 (to the right), with rambling roots. 



