IS THE "VALVE OF UTEICULARIA SENSITIVE? 149 



utricles ; these light spongy petioles give the plant a 

 very elegant appearance, and their main office seems to 

 be to float it at the time of flowering. The flowers 

 are of a bright yellow color, with from five to ten on 

 each slender stem. This plant grows in rather deep, 

 still water. I have taken it from ponds of quite pure 

 water with a depth of from eight to ten feet. 



/ 



FIG. 6. UTKICLK OF Ul'iUUULAKI A INFLATA. 



Fig. 6 represents a young utricle of U. iuflata magni- 

 fied about twenty diameters. The antennae, as Mr. Dar- 

 win calls the long branched prolongations of the utricle, 

 are not fully expanded, and are not as long as in most 

 specimens. The mouth or orifice is just beneath the 

 long antennae, and within this orifice is situated the 

 valve or trap by means of which the plant captures its 

 prey. 



The manner in which the utricle is developed has 

 been observed by some of the most able naturalists 

 of our time. Through the kindness of Professor Asa 



