li'^iO PLANTS OP NEW ZEALAND 



One of the chief dangers the plant has to contend with, 

 arises from tlie continual moving of the stones of the shmgle- 

 slips. Indeed, its rosettes are often bm'ied, and sometimes 

 destroyed by them. However, specimens are not infrequently 

 found, in which a second rosette has been developed above the 

 (original one, that had been covered by the ever-moving 

 shingle. Obviously, the fleshy leaves, the long-tap root 

 reaching to tlie wet stones below, the thick finwer stem with 

 its conical mass of low-growing, densely crowded flowers, have 

 all been developed by the plant in its attempt to adjust itself 

 to the perils of a difficult environment. As m other plants of 

 the shingle-slips, tire foliage is of a sandy hue, that suggests 

 protective resemblance, l)ut no sufficient explanation has yet 

 been given of this assimilation of cijlour to liabitat. 



Droseraceae. 



The Sundew Family. 



Distribution. — A reniavkalile faiiiilv, with carnivorous habits ; usually 

 found in marshy or sandy ground. Dioiui'a iiiuscipida, the Veiiiis^ Fly-Trap of 

 the North-American bogs, is wonderfully specialized for the catching of insects. 



The Droseraceae are a widely distributed family, but the greatest number of 

 species is found in Australia. D. rohuidifiilia is found in almost all English 

 bogs. The leaves of this plant, when young, are curled like the fronds of a fern. 

 Some of the siiecies yield a purple dye. 



Cieniis D)()H(n'a. 



Sepals, petals and stamens, 4, .5, or rarely 8. Flowers, white or purple, on 

 long weak stems, Cin.-18in. in length. The leaves of the different species are 

 ver\" \aried in shape. G sp. 



Dposera pygmgea. {The I'ljijmij Dmscra). 



A \erv minute plant, with leaf rosettes less than ^in. across. Stem, 1- 

 flowci'ed, Jin. high. Flowers white. Calyx 4-lobed ; capsule 4-yalved. Viaih 

 islands: local. Fl. Dec.-.Tan. 



