id42 JOURNAL OP THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of fresh seeds appear in six to eight weeks, according to the 

 season of the year. The infant plant with the two seed leaves 

 and tiny rootlets is shown in Fig. 57, i. Three to four or more 

 weeks elapse before any further change is detected, when the 

 first pair of true leaves, with a minute sessile pitcher at the 

 apex of each, are developed as shown in Fig. 57, 2. A second 

 similar pair succeeds them, and after the lapse of three or four 

 months the plant has attained a form pretty much as represented 

 in Fig. 57, 3. Fig. 57, 4, represents a plant about twelve months 

 old : it shows approximately the progress that has been made in 

 the interval in the case of plants from seeds ripened under the 

 same artificial conditions. In the case of imported seeds the 

 rate of growth is much slower. 



The stems of vigorous growing Nepenthes will lengthen 3 to 

 4 feet in a single season and will have depending from them 

 twelve to eighteen pitchers. In practice, it is not usual to 

 allow the stems to ascend far unless the plant is especially 

 intended for flowering. After a few weeks' growth, the stems 

 are, in the language of gardeners, " stopped," that is to say, the 

 point is pinched or cut off, which results in a branching at or 

 near the base ; by this means pitchers of the most desired shape 

 and colour are obtained. In the wild state the stems of Nepen- 

 thes continue to lengthen year after year till, for want of 

 support, they fall by their own weight, resulting often in 

 fracture and a consequent change in the direction of axial 

 growth. Instances are recorded of the stems of Nepenthes 

 attaining a length of 30 or more feet, being supported by the 

 trees against which they grow ; and where the prolonged midrib 

 of the leaf is brought into contact with a slender twig it will 

 coil round it, and in this way the plant obtains its support. It 

 would seem, from observations somewhat vaguely recorded, that 

 as the stems increase in length at their apical end so do they 

 die off at the opposite or basal end. Nepenthes are but poorly 

 provided with roots, probably on account of the temporary dura- 

 tion of their stems, which have the power of sending out new 

 roots into the thick covering of moss and lichen frequently 

 found on the trunks of trees growing in a highly humid tropical 

 climate. The Nepenthes are thence not wholly land plants, but 

 epiphytal under certain circumstances. 



Foliation. — There is great similarity in the foliage of all 



