INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS 



343 



caught by a sticky secretion which proceeds from hairs on 

 the leaves. In one of the commonest sundews the leaves 

 consist of a roundish blade, borne on a moderately long 

 petiole. On the inner surface and round the margin of 

 the blade (Fig. 239) are borne a considerable number of 

 short bristles, each ter- 

 minating in a knob which 

 is covered with a clear, 

 sticky liquid. When a 

 small insect touches one 

 of the sticky knobs, he 

 is held fast and the hairs 

 at once begin to close 

 over him, as shown in 

 Fig. 240. Here he soon 

 dies and then usually re- 

 mains for many days, 

 while the leaf pours out 

 a juice by which the 

 soluble parts of the insect 

 are digested. The liquid 

 containing the digested 

 portions is then absorbed 

 by the leaf and contrib- 

 utes an important part of the nourishment of the plant, 

 while the undigested fragments, such as legs, wing-cases,- 

 and so on, remain on the surface of the leaf or may drop 

 off after the hairs let go their hold on the captive insect. 



In the Venus flytrap, which grows in the sandy regions 

 of eastern North Carolina, the mechanism for catching 

 insects is still more remarkable. The leaves, as shown in 



FIG. 241. Venus Flytrap. 



