INSECT- EATING PLANTS. 



137 



remain shut up until the insect is dead or perfectly still, when 

 they will gradually re-open and be ready for another prey. 



Turning to the Droseras, or " Sun-dews," with which we are 

 all more or less familiar from our British species Drosera 

 rotundifolia, which is of a very small growth, and well known 

 in all European gardens. There are a vast number of beautiful 

 species in this family, spread over most parts of the world, but 

 very few of them are as yet in cultivation. Among the few 

 species we have growing, there is the fine Australian plant 

 known as Drosera dichotoma, with its long branching leaves. 

 Drosera capensis, again, is a superb plant, with its large oblong, 

 spathulate leaves, thickly beset with deep viscid glands. I have 

 also seen specimens of Drosera lunata, having beautiful lunate 

 leaves, bearing long viscid glands. Drosera filiformis is another 

 charming species ; so are also many others which could be 

 named. 



Another very desirable and beautiful plant is the Portuguese 

 *' Fly-catcher" (Drosophyllum lusitanicum), a somewhat shrubby- 

 growing species. It is common round the coasts of Spain and 

 Portugal, and is also found in the Mauritius. It has thick fleshy 

 leaves, 3 inches to 6 inches or more long, thickly covered with 

 viscid, glutinous hairs, which catch a great number of flies. This 

 species produces beautiful yellow flowers. I have never myself 

 had this plant growing, but latterly it has become less scarce 

 in English gardens, though it is, I fear, a plant that will not 

 live long under cultivation. 



The next genus I shall notice is Nepenthes — a family which, 

 from their engrossing beauty, have gained for themselves a 

 host of admirers. These plants have many absurd stories re- 

 ported of them ; one of the most frequent of these is that the 

 plants always grow in dry places, and have the power of dis- 

 tilling water, and that when the pitchers become full the lid 

 closes down, and serves as a resource for thirsty travellers ; 

 "but all such fancies are simply absurd, and hardly worth re- 

 counting, for the plants grow really in swampy soils, and cannot 

 endure a dry atmosphere. It is quite true that a liquid is dis- 

 tilled, so to speak, in the pitchers before the lids open, but when 

 once the pitcher has attained its full dimensions the lid opens 

 never to close again ; indeed., in many varieties the lid or the 

 operculum would not, by any means, be large enough to close 



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