THE PITCHER PLANTS. 



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N. Pervillei. — A plant recently introduced 

 from the Seychelles, but not a success in gar- 

 dens, from which it has already disappeared. 

 As a wild plant it is of robust habit, bearing 

 leaves a foot long and fine crimson pitchers of 

 8 inches, but under cultivation these are too 

 small to be more than of botanical interest. 



N. phyllamphora. — An old plant from 

 Borneo and Cochin China, known to botanists 

 since 1790. It is of free growth and easy cul- 

 ture, bearing pitchers which reach 10 inches 

 upon the wild plant but under glass are much 

 smaller, bright green in colour, and wingless, 

 these being replaced by a few hairs. 



N. picturata. — A fine cross obtained by 

 Messrs. Veitch between Dicksoniana and mixta, 

 and as a new plant is fully described above. 



N. Rajflesiana. — An old kind in gardens, 

 first grown in 181 5, and perhaps the most 

 easily managed of any. It is a handsome plant, 

 bearing large green leaves in which the midrib 

 is greatly extended (sometimes 3 feet) bearing 

 fine rounded pitchers of 5 to 9 inches, with 

 crested wings and a mouth gradually narrow- 

 ing to a long raised hinge supporting the lid; 

 their colour is of a pale green, thickly spotted 

 with purple-brown markings. Singapore. A 

 free grower, readily propagated, and profuse 

 in pitchers. It is grown under several forms : 

 insignis, with larger pitchers, much dilated at 

 the base, beset with brown hairs, and with a 

 deeply ribbed rim; pallida, a variety sparingly 

 spotted ; and nigro-purpurea, a distinct plant 

 bearing dull pitchersof brownish-purple,varied 

 by a few paler spots and star-like hairs. 



N. Rajah. — A noble plant of the Bornean 

 mountains, but rare in gardens and of difficult 

 culture. Growing at a height of 6,000 to 

 8,000 feet, in a region of perpetual mist, its 

 enormous pitchers of 1 2 inches or more long 

 by 6 inches broad, and holding three to five 

 pints of liquid, rest upon the wet sandy soil or 

 are half buried in decaying vegetation. These 

 great vessels are stout and leathery, of ruddy 

 purple fading to violet-purple with age, and a 

 rim of rich red-brown; they bear two fringed 

 wings in front, and their whole surface is more 

 or less clothed with reddish hairs. Mouth very 

 broad, shaded by a large lid, and the inside of 

 the urn studded with prominent glands. The 

 leaves are from 1 to 2 feet long, tough and 

 shining, with indistinct nerves and a peculiar 



tendril beneath inserted not far from the apex. 

 A dwarf plant not exceeding 4 feet, and of 

 singular interest and beauty ; it has, however, 

 nearly disappeared from gardens, only two or 

 three plants being now in cultivation. 



N. Ratcliffiana. — A garden cross between 

 Hookeriana a n d P hy I I amphora, bearing medium- 

 sized flask-shaped pitchers of green, spotted 

 with red; wings variable in breadth, narrow- 

 ing towards the base. 



N. robusta. — A very free-growing cross 

 from the same parents, producing strange pear- 

 shaped vessels of dark green, streaked and 

 blotched with brownish-crimson. 



N. Rowana. — A distinct and little known 

 plant of the Australian group, with stout stems 

 of 2 to 3 feet, bearing pitchers 6 inches long 

 by 3 inches wide, and in shape like the cap of 

 liberty — curved at the base and broadly widen- 

 ing to a large mouth. They are finely marked 

 with reddish-purple and deeply veined; hard 

 outer ribs hardly to be called wings, and a lid 

 smaller than the mouth, covered beneath with 

 rounded glands. 



N. rubra. — A rare species from Ceylon, of 

 great beauty but not in cultivation ; a plant 

 of slender habit, bearing very large pitchers of 

 bright red. 



N. rubro-maculata. — A cross sent out by 

 Veitch in 1882, but now rarely met with. 

 Pitchers of pale green of medium size, spotted 

 with claret-red and heavily winged; broad flat 

 rim of deep red, and a red-spotted lid much 

 smaller than the mouth. 



N.rufescens. — A hybrid shrub from Courti 

 and distillatoria, with long narrow leaves upon 

 ruddy stems, bearing rounded pitchers of nearly 

 8 inches, green suffused with red. 



N. Sanderiana. — A plant recently intro- 

 duced from Sumatra by Messrs. Sander, and 

 akin to Rafflesiana but distinct in its brighter 

 colour and more compact habit. The vessels 

 are about 6 inches long and fully half as wide 

 at their broadest, narrowing rapidly towards 

 the neck; they are deep green at the base, with 

 crimson spots which thicken in the upper part 

 of the pitcher into dense masses of colour. The 

 wings are very wide, running the length of the 

 I pitchers, and of deep crimson, more intense on 

 the outer face, and richer than upon the urns 

 themselves. A new and useful addition to the 

 I group. 



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