246 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



after the cotyledons, the cotyledons themselves showing no trace of 

 even a rudimentary pitcher (Fig, 57, 2 and 3 ; p. 253). In the stages 

 of growth immediately following, the pitchers assume a more 

 definite form, the operculum or lid and the ciliated ventral wings 

 are more clearly differentiated from the body of the pitcher. 

 These young pitchers are at first continuous with the blade and 

 form part of it, then sessile, and later separated from it by a 

 prolongation of the midrib ; they are produced simultaneously 

 with the blade, not after it as in the adult plant. These infantine 

 pitchers are always found to contain a viscid fluid secreted by 

 numerous glands seated in the epiderm of the inner surface 

 which may be easily detected by the aid of a pocket lens ; these 

 glands are fairly distributed over the whole inner surface of the 

 pitchers of young plants but in older plants on which the pitchers 

 have attained more or less their normal size, the glands are confined 

 to a certain area which varies considerably in extent in the 

 different species ; the secretions also are more copious, become 

 less viscid and have a peculiar flat and insipid flavour, implying 

 the presence of ingredients not found in the composition of 

 water. This watery fluid is preserved intact by the lid which 

 remains firmly closed till the pitcher has nearly attained its full 

 size. 



As leaves continue to be produced, so a gradual change in 

 the size and shape of the pitchers becomes apparent. Instead of 

 the pitcher being produced simultaneously with the blade, it lags 

 behind as it were, the midrib is perceptibly prolonged beyond 

 the apex of the blade while the pitcher is still rudimentary, and 

 this continues till leaves are produced with full- sized pitchers. 

 If the stem is allowed to grow without check, the pitchers 

 appended to the leaves successively produced undergo a change 

 in shape and dimensions still more remarkable than what takes 

 place during the progress of development from the infantine to 

 what is regarded as the perfect form of the pitcher. To under- 

 stand clearly the extent of the change, it is necessary to note the 

 various parts of the pitcher ; for this purpose Bafflesiana affords 

 an excellent type. The pitcher of this species in its best form is 

 of flask-like shape, it is most dilated at the bottom and gradually 

 contracts upwards ; it is furnished on the front or ventral side 

 with two broad coarsely ciliated or fringed wings ; on the opposite 

 or dorsal side there is a keel marking the continuation of the 



