1 3 o 



BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS 



CHAP. 



it (doubtless with visions of honey), and a leg or a wing comes 

 in contact with the end of a gland and the fluid holds it tight. 

 The struggling insect smears itself more and more with the 

 deceptive fluid, and, strange to say, all the tentacles on the leaf 

 begin to move towards the insect. At last it is covered up. 

 More and more fluid is poured out until all becomes quiet. The 

 leaf remains closed for a few days, and when it opens a little 



FIG. 150. Sundew. 



FIG. 151. Buttervvort. 



indigestible matter is blown away. The remainder has been 

 absorbed by the leaf for its nutrition. 



Another common English carnivorous plant is the Butter- 

 wort (Fig. 151), which grows in damp places. A rosette of 

 leaves grows close to the ground. The leaves are of a dirty 

 yellow colour and are covered with numerous small hairs which 

 secrete a sticky fluid. The wind! is always blowing the dead 

 bodies of small animals about, and if one of these comes in con- 

 tact with the fluid it adheres to it. The margin of the leaf, 

 which is always somewhat curved, moves a little and pushes 

 the body before it. The hairs secrete an acid fluid capable of 



