NEPENTHES. 



349 



918. Nepenthes. 



91G. The exact nature of the liquid in the pitchers is not fully 

 understood. Mellicharnp's observations seem to indicate that 

 it has the power of accelerating the decomposition of animal 

 matter. Nothing is yet known positively as to tlie manner in 

 which the products of decomposition are utilized by the plant, 

 if, indeed, they are at all serviceable to it.^ 

 917. Darlingtonia has been examined 

 by Canby, who finds strong indications 

 that it allures insects much as the Sarra- 

 ccnias do. 



This striiving plant has 

 long been a favor- 

 ite in the green- 

 house on account 

 of its peculiar 

 leaves, which often combine 

 a blade, a tendril, and a well- 

 formed urn. The species of 

 Nepenthes (about thirtj' in 

 number) produce pitchers at 

 the extremity of their tendril- 

 like leaves. When the plants 

 are young these pitchers are 

 less elongated and are apt to 

 ^_,_-^« r|m, rest on the ground, and in 



i^^^^ m such plants their whole inte- '^^ 



rior is clothed with secreting glands. 

 When the plant is older, the pitchers 

 become more distinctly tubular, and do 

 not possess such conspicuous wings as those found in the form 

 just mentioned. All of them have lids ; in one ease the hd is 



1 It is interesting to observe some of the early conjectures as to the probable 

 use of these pitchers. "Morrison spealcs of the lid, which in all the species is 

 tolerably rigidly fixed, as being furnished by Providence with a hinge. This 

 id(^a was adopted by Linnaius, and somewhat amplified by succeeding writers, 

 who declared that in dry weather the lid closed over the mouth and checked 

 the loss of water by evaporation. Catesby, in his fine work on the 'Natural 

 History of Carolina,' supposed that these water-receptacles might 'serve as an 

 asylum or secure retreat for numerous insects, from frogs and other animals 

 whicli feed ou them ;' and others followed Linnjeus in regarding the pitchers 

 as reservoirs for birds and otlier animals, more especially in times of drought " 

 (Hooker's Address before British Association, 1874). But Burnett regarded 

 the tubes as closely analogoiis to the stomachs of animals. 



Fig. 161. Pitcher of Darlingtonia Californica. 



Fig. 162. Leaf of Nepentbee; leaf, tendril, and pitcher combined. 



