Geographical Distribution of Plants. 27 



flowers clinging to the surface, as if they had been actually glued 

 thereto. The dash of the paddle or stroke of the oar alone dis- 

 turbs their quiet. 



Ord er — Sa rraceniacece. 



One genus of plants constitutes this remarkable order, and it 

 comprises only six species, confined almost entirely, I believe, to 

 North America. We have but one species in the British posses- 

 sions, the Sarracenia purpurea. It occurs every where, exten- 

 sively diffused throughout the marshy and swampy wastes, as far 

 as Bear's Lake north, and the Rocky Mountain West. Where 

 timber is stinted in growth, and ihe moss is unshaded, it springs 

 from its damp sphagnous bed in great perfection. Its vase-shaped 

 leaf is attractive as a rare form of vegetable growth. Fairies 

 might adopt it as a drinking cup. After rain it may be had nearly 

 filled with water, and the goblet then tells many a tale of death, 

 disaster and woe. Many small insects — often of the dipterous 

 order, Chironomi, Tanypi, and other minute airy forms — retiring 

 probably for shelter from the storm, in this house of refuge end 

 their short day. Overwhelmed by some drop, to them a water 

 spout, they may have died struggling in the abyss profound, or 

 perhaps, having performed the great mission of their life, they may 

 have tranquilly given up the ghost, within this deep funereal urn, 

 by nature prepared for them, and chosen by themselves — memori- 

 als even they of their Great Creator's marvellous attributes, power 

 and skill. 



At the season when the flower of the Sarracenia purpurea is in 

 full expansion, the plague of mosquitoes has commenced, and then 

 'tis only the most determined, zealous botanist who will penetrate 

 into the swampy recesses, where this singular plant abides. In 

 early winter when the frozen surface affords firm footing, and the 

 snow has scarcely covered the ground, the sportsman crashes over 

 its frosted and brittle cup that rises from the moss and seems to 

 claim from him a more cautious step. It is but a leaf, yet a rare 

 specimen of nature's incomprensible handywork, and therefore a 

 vessel which her thoughtful admirers dislike to destroy. 



Sir John Richardson in his excellent tables places this plant in 

 the eastern prairies, as well as in the western district. He pro- 

 bably means that it is to be found in those outskirting woods and 

 swamps that encroach in many places on the prairie lawns. We 

 must not conclude that it occurs on those dry plains and grassy 

 meadows, which, oceandike, spread over the interior of the country. 



