THE EPIPHYTES 159 



Another plant, Dischidia rafflesiana, be- 

 longing to the very different family of Ascle- 

 piads, may be considered in this connection 

 though it is not strictly speaking an epiphyte. 

 It commonly grows on rocky surfaces, but 

 it is subjected, like the epiphyte, to the need 

 of special adaptations for obtaining water. 

 Its ordinary leaves are rather thick and fleshy, 

 and thus are to be regarded as dealing econo- 

 mically with such water as may be available. 

 But some of its leaves undergo a most 

 remarkable modification in the course of 

 their development, and assume the form 

 of pitchers. The mouth of the pitcher is 

 directed upwards, and they are readily 

 filled by the heavy showers that prevail in 

 the regions of the Eastern Archipelago and 

 Malay where the plant occurs. The utilisa- 

 tion of the water is finally effected by small 

 branching roots, which spring from the stem 

 close to the insertion of the leaf pitcher. 

 These enter it and ramify inside it. Often 

 detritus of various sorts becomes washed into 

 the pitcher, and thus it not only serves to 

 collect water, but it actually provides soil 

 for the plant as well. 



A few of the epiphytes have been chosen 

 for consideration here because they so admir- 

 ably illustrate the remarkable methods by 

 which the difficulties of obtaining water have 

 been overcome. An extended study of 

 these remarkable plants would have shown 

 this more in detail, for there is hardly any 



