WILD FLOWERS red 



mers and gardeners, we know, replenish the soil with 

 fertilizer containing a large portion of animal matter, 

 such as ground bone and fish, which supplies nitrogen, 

 a necessary element for leaf and stalk formation, and 

 which is absorbed through the activity of plant roots. 

 The leaves of the Pitcher-plant have developed some 

 of the power of the roots by absorbing the nitrogeneous 

 matter from decomposing insects, which they ingeni- 

 ously attract and capture for this purpose. Broadly 

 speaking, that is all there is to it, and the construc- 

 tion of the leaves, and their method of entrapping the 

 insects is more interesting to learn. The leaves are 

 elongate and tubular, tapering from the root and 

 bulging widely toward the centre, forming a sort 

 of pitcher-shaped growth, with the blunt, open end 

 flared to one side into a short, pointed, and flapped 

 hood. They curve gracefully outward and upward, 

 and the inner or concaved side, which faces the flower 

 stalk, has a very broad wing or keel. They are yellow- 

 ish green in colour, conspicuously lined and veined 

 with purple, and grow from four to twelve inches long. 

 The texture is stout and leathery, and the outer and 

 inner surfaces are smooth. The pitchers are generally 

 half-filled with water, and the inner surface of the 

 hood is thickly covered with fine, hairy bristles which 

 point downward toward the opening. Just inside 

 the aperture is secreted a sweet, sticky substance, 

 which is supposed to attract insects to it Once inside 

 the pitcher, the insect becomes a captive, and in try- 

 ing to escape, it encounters the labyrinth of reflexed 



*5 



