14 THE STRUCTURE OF THE PITCHER PLANT. 
burthen of watercups, is too feeble to support the weight. 
Seldom does the stem exceed two inches in diameter, Meist d 
long and flexible like a rope. : 
Now, as all readers of the Narv- 
RALIST may not be botanists, we will | 
state that the plants in question bear i 
on the ends of their leaves peculiar = 
appendages not unlike pitchers in 
form, and hence they are commonly 
known as pitcher-plants. Like the 
pitchers we use for domestic pur- 
poses, they are often colored with 
many gorgeous tints, and fashioned 
into graceful shapes, often with a 
capacity to hold more than a quart 
of liquid. As nature is seldom out- 
done by art, these forest cups have __ 
the ability to fill themselves, thus 
differing in an important respect 
from the pitchers we use. E 
For a long time it has been a 
question where this liquid came - 
from, and our knowledge of the © 
subject is still too limited to say - 
from what part of the plant it is — 
poured out, though 7 is probable . 
Fig. 1. 


cide this question, certainly, would 
require close observation on the liv- 
ing pitchers, and that would be very . 
difficult, bond in their early stages of growth they are 
tightly closed by the curious lids at the top, and in the young . 
state excretion is most rapid and copious. 
Fig. 1 is an accurate drawing made (half size) from a 
pitcher that had ee ee show . 


