1V2 HOME STUDIES IN NATURE. 



of Pinguicula may attract these tiny creatures, and flit- 

 ting about the flowers, they come in contact with the 

 moist stems and leaves, where they are held fast and 

 consumed. 



The Pinguiculas are not only carnivorous, but also 

 vegetable feeders. They consume a large amount of 

 pollen. The long-leaved pine (Pinus australis) consti- 

 tutes almost the entire growth of the pine-barrens, and 

 the trees bloom while the Pinguiculas are making their 

 most rapid growth. Any one acquainted with the pines 

 knows what a large amount of pollen falls annually 

 from the trees. I have often seen pools and sluggish 

 streams of water almost covered with this yellow pollen 

 dust ; and the Pinguiculas growing as they do under and 

 among these pine-trees, I naturally inferred that they 

 must catch and retain a large amount of pollen; so, 

 bringing a lens to bear upon the plants where they grew, 

 I found my suspicions confirmed — that a large amount 

 of pollen was mixed with small flies. The plants were 

 secreting copiously, but the flies might cause the secre- 

 tion independent of the pollen ; so, in order to be sure 

 that the pollen was really digested, I took the staminate 

 flowers of the pine to my study, and dusted the pollen 

 over fresh leaves of P. lntea, which I had carefully 

 grown where they should be free from any chance prey. 

 I put the pollen on so thick that it lay in little heaps. 

 Soon the leaves were secreting, and the pollen was grad- 

 ually dissolved, and disappeared with the secretion. 



Many other experiments I recorded which I will not 



