118 
July, 1891. 
/ ORCHFIRD'/rnd^ GARDEN \ 
ripened only a few seeds, and owing to this 
and other causes (among them bedding 
plants) it gradually disappeared. A few 
seeds and plants have occasionally been of- 
fered for sale, but they have seldom been 
true to name. This led the late Dr. Tliurber 
to look abroad for the true plant, and he 
finally succeeded in getting it. It has been 
propagated, (chiefly by division.) and the 
stock has passed into the hands of Mr. Mey- 
Nepenthes Hibberdii. fik. 003. 
er of Passaic, N. J. The plant grows about 
eighteen inches high, and blooms profusely. 
The petals are pure white and the sepals 
blue; but such a blue! We hope to see this 
beautiful plant generally grown again. 
■ m i 
Beds of Coleus must be dipped a little 
from time to time to preserve an even sur- 
face. Some neglect to do it and so destroy 
the effect of a smooth mass of color. 
The Pitcher Plants. 
The American Pitcher Plants, or Sarra- 
cenias , have already been referred to as 
wonderful plants. Still more wonderful 
are the Nepenthes, or East Indian Pitcher 
Plants. It is quite possible that many read- 
ers of Orchard amd Garden have never 
seen these remarkable plants, and a fine 
portrait of one of them is herewith present- 
ed as a study. The figures are of the natural 
size of this particular variety, and present 
a front and back view of the same pitcher. 
Figures 903 and 90334- Some of the species 
and varieties have larger pitchers and oth- 
ers smaller. A figure of the plant with its 
pitcher attached would be more satisfac- 
tory, but it is not easy to obtain one. A 
little description, however, will help to sup- 
ply the “missing link.” The Nepenthes is a 
climbing plant with long or lanceolateleaves. 
Now the remarkable thing about the leaf 
is, that its midvein is extended many inches 
beyond the apex or end of the leaf some- 
what like a tendril. Still further, the end 
of this midvein or tendril finally expands 
into a hollow vessel or pitcher, as seen in 
the illustration. The end of the tendril, 
where it begins to expand into the pitcher, 
is plainly seen in Fig. 903. The pitcher, it 
will be noticed, is furnished with a lid. 
This lid is attached to the pitcher by a liga- 
ment, which expands and contracts under 
varying conditions of the atmosphere, and 
this in a measure opens and closes the aper- 
ture of the pitcher. The pitcher always 
contains more or less water, from half a 
pint to a pint or more, according to the size 
of the pitcher, which varies in the species 
and varieties. 
The body of the pitcher is usually de- 
scribed as being flask shaped, the reference 
being to the flask of the laboratory, and 
not to the one certain people carry in the 
pocket for “medicine.” The wings are the 
parts seen on each side of the tendril in Fig. 
903. They are usually beautifully fringed. 
The rim forms the opening to the pitcher, 
and is more or less finely ribbed, the ribs 
being often alternately colored. The lid is 
directly over the rim or mouth of the pitch- 
er, usually takes the same shape, and is of- 
ten spotted or colored on one or both sides. 
The pitchers vary in size and color, some 
being plain green, but many, especially the 
hybrids, are splendidly mottled. A goodly 
proportion of the finest hybrids have had an 
American origin, and for most of these we 
are indebted to Mr. Taplin. 
To tell all about these interesting Pitcher 
Plants would need more time and space 
than can be given to the subject just now. 
We will simply add that they can easily be 
grown in the temperature and conditions 
found in the Orchid house, where they are 
usually grown; but they can also be grown 
very well in the ordinary hot-house or in a 
worm green-house, heat and moisture be- 
ing almost indispensable. A long time ago 
before hybrids were known, we grew Ne- 
penthes distillatoria in a small sitting room 
heated by an air-tight wood stove, and 
raised seedlings there too; but the details 
would be too long for this article. There 
has been a good deal of discussion at times 
in regard to the water in the pitchers; how 
it gets there and its uses. As the result of 
no inconsiderable observation, we have 
reached the conclusion that it is furnished 
by the plant itself, though it may doubtless 
be increased at times from outside resour- 
ces. While transpiration affords a natural 
and simple source, it seems hardly worth 
Nepenthes Hibberdii. Fig. 00.% 
while to search for something more recon- 
dite to help build up a theory or give plaus- 
ibility to an assumption. — P. B. Mead. 
Use flowers freely. Have them on the 
table and in the house. And the children, 
let them pluck to their little heart's con- 
tent! The more flowers are picked, the 
more abundantly they grow, as a rule. 
