PITCHER-PLANTS (Nepenthes] 



The plate represents a typical species (Nepenthes destillatoria] of 

 a group of pitcher-plants which ranges from Madagascar through 

 south and south-east Asia to the East Indies, Philippines, and 

 tropical Australia. They live in damp forest-regions, at the side of 

 pools, in the shallow water of which their seeds germinate. The 

 leaves are modified in a remarkable manner for the purpose of 

 catching and digesting flying-insects. The attached end of the 

 leaf-stalk is broadened into a green expansion, followed by a 

 tendril-like section, while 'the end of the stalk swells into a pitcher, 

 which is overhung by a lid representing the blade of the leaf. In- 

 sects are attracted by the bright colours of the pitchers, and the 

 nectar which is abundantly secreted around their openings and on 

 the under side of their lids. But the inner side of the pitcher is as 

 slippery as glass, and any insect that steps upon it quickly slides 

 down into the contained fluid, which partly consists of a powerful 

 digestive juice that reduces to solution the nutritious parts of the 

 victim. The "peptonized insect-extract" thus prepared is absorbed 

 by the lining of the pitcher, and constitutes a highly nutritious and 

 stimulating food. 



