THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 117 
Poisonous Roots.— A great many people hesitate to 
handle plants with which they are not familiar for fear 
of being poisoned. There is a general impression that a 
large number of wild plants are poisonous to the touch, 
but as a matter of fact, not halt a dozen in any one local- 
ity are really so. The nuirJvr pLmt- Th:,t''..tv pn\<nn- 
ous when eaten is r, ' 
with poisonous re 
{Podophyllum), Bio 
lacca), Elder {Snnih : 
Berry (Actaca), Eu- 
phorbia, CicutH and Ipomcn. 
The Arum and Insects.— A British species of Arum 
(.1. macuhitum), closely related to our own Jack-in-the- 
Pulpit. produces a ring <)f hairs on the spadix above the 
-story has been made to the effect that it acts as a trap for 
pollinating insects. It is said that the stiff hairs pointing 
downward allow the insects to enter the spathe. but pre- 
vent their exit. The small prisoners are fed on honey 
until the anthers discharge their pollen. Then the hairs 
shrivel allowing the pollen-covered insects to depart to 
another flower, in this manner effecting pollination. Now 
comes an inconoclast with the statement that the hairs do 
not prevent th. exit of insects, that the honey produced 
actually stupefies all that taste it, and that the plant is • 
actually carnivorous and digests the insects that die in its 
spathes. Thus is another wonderful story relegated to the 
limbo of fair\' tales. 
