red WILD FLOWERS 



hairs, falls exhausted into the water, and is finally 

 drowned. There is the trap, and most any time dur- 

 ing the summer insects may be observed floating on 

 the surface of the water within the pitchers. These 

 pitchers radiate in the form of a circle about the cen- 

 tral flower stalk and spring direct from the roots. 



The peculiar construction of these cornucopia-shaped 

 leaves actually demonstrate the fabulous "horn of 

 plenty" which they faithfully imitate, by yielding an 

 abundance of insect food and water which some of 

 the birds, and probably also harmless snakes and frogs 

 take advantage of. The large, solitary flower nods 

 coquettishly from a long, stout, smooth, light green 

 stalk rising from one to two feet high. Its five long, 

 ovate, purple-red petals are narrowed in the centre 

 like a fiddle, and their rounded ends are folded in over 

 the top of the singular five-rayed, yellowish style, which 

 is astonishingly like an umbrella, spreading itself over 

 the large seed case, with its five ribs or rays terminating 

 in hooked stigmas. Numerous stamens surround the 

 pistil. The calyx has five spreading sepals which are 

 thick and tough. They are purplish red, lined with 

 light green, and are often stained with darker purple. 

 They are supported by three or four bracts. In the 

 fall, after the seed case has disappeared, the long, 

 faded flower stalks stand out conspicuously, and dis- 

 play their withered sepals. On the 28th of September, 

 i85i,Thoreau wrote in his journal: "Though the moss 

 is comparatively dry, I cannot walk without upsetting 

 the numerous pitchers, which are now full of water, 



16 



