PLANTS THAT FISH 23 
Other forms of the bladderwort have devised 
different ways of luring and capturing their prey. 
There is a species that shapes its “nets” and very 
cunningly curves its leaves under the water to 
imitate the mouth of the mother fish. The baby 
fishes, when frightened from any cause, swim in 
for protection, their entrance stirring sensitive 
nerve-hairs that cause the leaves to close. On the 
inside of these leaves is a rough, spiky surface, 
which, on the closing of the walls, renders pas- 
sage through them an impossibility. So the tiny. 
fish are imprisoned and gradually devoured, giv- 
ing nourishment to the plant that has betrayed 
them. When the plant finds its larder empty, the 
leaves are opened out again, to procure a new 
supply. 
Despite its foul and decaying contents, the vora- 
cious bladderwort presents a remarkably dainty ex- 
terior, with its strange, aerial stems which are cov- 
ered with marvellously beautiful white and green 
flowers. These flowers appear at a short distance 
as though, like Mohammed’s coffin, they were 
miraculously suspended in the air. Perhaps their 
beauty is but an additional lure to the unwary! 
An interesting “fishing plant” is one that is found 
on the coast of Africa, known as “trembling 
leaves.” 'This plant, however, does not do the fish- 
