104 FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



duced, especially during the younger state of the 

 plants. They present very considerable modifica- 

 tions of form and external structure, and vary 

 greatly in size, from little more than an inch to 

 almost a foot in length ; one species indeed, from 

 the mountains of Borneo, has pitchers which, in- 

 cluding the lid, measure a foot and a half, and the 

 capacious bowl is large enough to drown a small 

 animal or bird." 



" In most species the pitchers are of two forms, one 

 pertaining to the young, the other to the old state of 

 the plant, the transition from one form to the other 

 being gradual. Those of the young state are shorter 

 and more inflated ; they have broad fringed longitu- 

 dinal wings on the outside, which are probably guides 

 to lead insects to the mouth ; the lid is smaller and 

 more open, and the whole interior surface is covered 

 with secreting glands. Being formed near the root of 

 the plant, these pitchers often rest on the ground, and- 

 in species which do not form leaves near the root they 

 are sometimes suspended from stalks which may be 

 fully a yard long, and which bring them to the ground. 

 In the older state of the plant the pitchers are usually 

 much longer, narrower, and less inflated, trumpet- 

 shaped ; the wings also are narrower, less fringed, or 

 almost absent. The lid is larger and slants over the 

 mouth, and only the lower part of the pitcher is- 

 covered with secreting glands, the upper part pre- 



