180 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



One of the chief dangers the plant has to contend with, 

 arises from the continual moving of the stones of the shingle- 

 slips. Indeed, its rosettes are often buried, and sometimes 

 destroyed by them. However, specimens are not infrequently 

 found, in which a second rosette has been developed above the 

 original one, that had been covered by the ever-moving 

 shingle. Obviously, the fleshy leaves, the long-tap root 

 reaching to the wet stones below, the thick flower stem with 

 its conical mass of low-growing, densely crowded flowers, have 

 all been developed by the plant in its attempt to adjust itself 

 to the perils of a difficult environment. As in other plants of 

 the shingle-slips, the foliage is of a sandy hue, that suggests 

 protective resemblance, but no sufficient explanation has yet 

 been given of this assimilation of colour to habitat. 



Droseraceae. 



THE SUNDEW FAMILY. 



Distribution. A remarkable family, with carnivorous habits ; usually 

 found in marshy or sandy ground. Dioncea muscipula, the Venus' Fly-Trap of 

 the North- American bogs, is wonderfully specialized for the catching of insects. 



The Droseraceae are a widely distributed family, but the greatest number of 

 species is found in Australia. D. rotundifolia is found in almost all English 

 bogs. The leaves of this plant, when young, are curled like the fronds of a fern. 

 Some of the species yield a purple dye. 



Genus Drosera. 



Sepals, petals and stamens, 4, 5, or rarely 8. Flowers, white or purple, on 

 long weak stems, Gin. -1 Sin. in length. The leaves of the different species are 

 yery varied in shape. 6 sp. 



D rose ra pygmsea. (The Pygmy Drosera). 



A very minute plant, with leaf rosettes less than in. across. Stem, 1- 

 nowered,- fin. high. Flowers white. Calyx 4-lobed ; capsule 4-valved. Both 

 islands : local. Fl. Dec. -Jan. 



