THE FLASK LEAF FAMILY. 



521 



" Traveller's Joy" and " Old Man's Beard," the latter name 

 being given to it on account of its hoary appearance through- 

 out the winter, owing to a feathery appendage of the seeds. 

 Like others of the family it is acrid, and blisters the skin. It 

 is the only shrubby representative of the family in this 

 country. The slender stems are tough and used for many 

 domestic purposes. C. Sieholdtii, C. cceridea, and others, 

 natives of Japan, are large showy flowering creepers, hardy 

 in this country ; while C. aristata, C. gli/cinoides, C. coriacea, 

 and others, are showy greenhouse creepers. 



The Flask Leaf Family. 



(Saeraceniace^) . 



Perennial herbs. Leaves hollow, tubular, from 6 inches 

 to more than a foot in length, bearing the lamina on its apex, 

 in the form of a lid. Flower-stalk a scape, generally bearing 

 1, or sometimes 2 or more flowers. Sepals 4 — 5 — 6. Stamens 

 numerous. Pistil simple, leafy, truncate, or expanded into 

 a broad circular shield with 5 stigmas, in the form of pores, 

 on its margin. Fruit a capsule, seeds numerous. 



A small family of plants, consisting of not more than 10 

 known species, with one exception natives of North America. 

 They grow in swampy places, and are remarkable for their 

 hollow leaves, which are generally upright, and rise from a 

 central crown, or a creeping stem. They are tubular, and 

 have a lid resembling the pitcher-plant of India, the mdth 

 of the mouth being from 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The 

 inside of the tube is lined with curious hairs, and it generally 

 contains liquid that seems to entice insects, many perishing 

 in the fluid, which ultimately becomes putrid. The pistil of 

 Sarracema is curious, being in the form of an open um- 

 brella, with the stigmas at the angles on the under side of 

 the margin. It is called " Side-saddle Flower," from the 

 petals hanging down between the sepals of the calyx like a 

 lady's riding-dress. 



Heliamphora nutans is a native of British Guiana. In an- 

 other species of the family, Darlingtonia Californica, a native 



