AMERICAN EDITOR. 287 



broom-sticks to their gatherings ; certain it is, at least, 

 that our brooms of the present hour derive their name 

 from the early use of the twiga of the plant for similar 

 purposes. 



Cordage, matting, and even coarse cloth have been 

 made of the fibres of the Broom. Houses are sometimes 

 thatched with the twigs, which have been also used for 

 tanning instead of oak-bark. 



It was a sprig of the Broom or Genet, as it is called in 

 French, worn in the helmet of a count of Anjou, of olden 

 time, which became at length a family badge, and gave 

 the name of Plantagenet to the race of English kings, 

 who for three centuries reigned over our forefathers. 



Dyer's Broom, woad-waxen, genista tinctoria, has be- 

 come naturalized hero and there in some parts of New 

 York and New England. 



NOTE G. 

 THE DESTRUCTION OF INSEGTS BY PLANTS, p. 62. 



That singular American plant the sarracenia, pitcher- 

 plant, hunters-cup, or side-saddle flower, as it is variously 

 called, is a striking instance of the peculiarity referred to 

 in the text, by Mr. Knapp. It is well known to all who 

 are familiar with our native plants, that the hollow leaves 

 of the sarracenia are generally found to contain more or 

 less water, with dead insects of various tribes which have 

 been drowned in the liquid. One might have supposed 

 that this was purely accidental, but it is not impossible 

 that the plant may require for its sustenance a certain 

 amount of animal nourishment. The experiment of an 

 English gardener would lead one to believe that such is 

 the case ; taking a hint from the drowned flies usually 

 found in the hollow leaves of the pitcher-plant he tried a 



