RED WILD FLOWERS 
hairs, falls exhausted into the water, and is finally 
drowned. There is the trap, and most any time dur- 
ing the summer insects may be observed floating on 
the surface of the water within the pitchers. These 
pitchers radiate in the form of a circle about the cen- 
tral flower stalk and spring direct from the roots. 
The peculiar construction of these cornucopia-shaped 
leaves actually demonstrate the fabulous “horn of 
plenty” which they faithfully imitate, by yielding an 
abundance of insect food and water which some of 
the birds, and probably also harmless snakes and frogs 
take advantage of.’ The large, solitary flower nods 
coquettishly from a long, stout, smooth, light green 
stalk rising from one to two feet high. Its five long, 
ovate, purple-red petals are narrowed in the centre 
like a fiddle, and their rounded ends are folded in over 
the top of the singular five-rayed, yellowish style, which 
is astonishingly like an umbrella, spreading itself over 
the large seed case, with its five ribs or rays terminating 
in hooked stigmas. Numerous stamens surround the 
pistil. The calyx has five spreading sepals which are 
thick and tough. They are purplish red, lined with 
light green, and are often stained with darker purple. 
They are supported by three or four bracts. In the 
fall, after the seed case has disappeared, the Jong, 
faded flower stalks stand out conspicuously, and dis- 
play their withered sepals. On the 28th of September, 
1851, Thoreau wrote in his journal: “Though the moss 
is comparatively dry, I cannot walk without upsetting 
the numerous pitchers, which are now full of water, 
16 
