LUTHER BURBANK 



"We have, too, in many parts of the country 

 plants which have learned to snare and trap 

 insects and even animals, and to digest them and 

 to live on them. 



"Among these carnivorous plants are the com- 

 mon pitcher plants, and the Venus fly trap. 



"The pitcher plants, instead of belonging only 

 to one family, are to be found in a number of 

 different families, thus showing that environment 

 has produced a similar strain of heredity in 

 separate kinds of plants which are not kin to 

 each other. 



"One of the pitcher plants which grows abun- 

 dantly in the moist places of the Sierras and in 

 northern California even catches frogs, small 

 animals and birds. The plant seems especially 

 devised to lure the animals into its pitcher. Above 

 the pitcher is a little lattice and an opening, like a 

 window, through which the light can shine. The 

 insects and the animals see a haven from the sun 

 and rain, and as they go in, there are little fingers 

 on the plant which push them along and keep 

 them from coming back. 



"Once securely in the trap, the plant secretes a 

 digestive juice, like our own gastric juice, and 

 absorbs the animal life as food. 



"In these traps it is common to find all kinds 

 of insects — including the undigested wings and 



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