NAT. ORDER. SARRACENIEiE. 
175 
are attached to the centre of each valve, and separate from the cen- 
tral axis of the column ; scapes^ always one-flowered ; Jlowers, large, 
nodding-, greenish-yellow or dark purple. These well known singular 
plants, are inhabitants of the swamps of North America, remarkable 
for the singular form of their leaves, which are tubular and hold wa- 
ter, and some species have lids or covers, which it is alleged shrink 
and close over the mouth, so as to prevent the exhalation of the water. 
In dry weather birds resort to them for drink. This order differs chiefly 
from Papaneraceoe, and JVymphiacem^ in having a broad, peltate, leafy 
stigma, but it is still nearer to the former than the latter, in the cap- 
sules being furnished with intervalvular placentas. 
Sarraceniajlava. Yellow side-saddle flower. In this species the 
leaves rise nearly three feet high, small at the bottom, but widening 
gradually near the top ; they are hollow, and arched over the mouth 
like a friar's cowl ; the flowers grow on naked pedicels, rising from 
the root to the height of three feet, and are of a green color. It is a 
native of North America, in open swamps, from Virginia to Florida. 
This is the tallest growing species ; the leaves are often three feet 
long. Flowers in June and July. 
Sairacenia purpurea. Purple side-saddle flower. This species 
has a strong fibrous root, which strikes deep into the soft earth, from 
which arise five, six, or seven leaves, in proportion to the strength of 
the plant ; these are about five or six inches long, hollow like a pitcher, 
narrow at their base, but swell out large at the top ; their outer sides 
are rounded, but on their inner side they are a little compressed, and 
have a broad leafy border running longitudinally the whole length of 
the tube ; and to the rounded part of the leaf there is on the top a 
large appendage or ear, standing erect, of a brownish color ; this sur- 
rounds the outside of the leaves ; it is eared at both ends, and waved 
round the border ; from the centre of the root, between the leaves, 
arises a strong, round, naked foot-stalk, about a foot high, sustaining 
one nodding flower at the top ; the leaflets of the upper calyx are ob- 
tuse, and bent over the corolla, so as to cover the inside of it ; they 
