244 Scott and Sargant . — On the Pitchers of 
which considerable difference of opinion still prevails among 
botanists. 
Dischidia rafflesiana is a twining epiphyte, growing on 
trees, and especially, according to Treub, on those with thin 
foliage. Its germination does not appear to have been 
observed, but so far as mature specimens are concerned, it is 
purely epiphytic, and not attached in any way to the soil. 
The twining branches are long and slender, bearing decussate 
leaves of two kinds, namely small, very caducous scale-leaves, 
and the normal foliage-leaves, which are fleshy, orbicular in 
form, and may reach about an inch in length. They, like the 
scale-leaves, fall very readily. The plant is attached to the 
tree on which it grows, by numerous adventitious roots, which 
at first arise close to the insertion of the leaves. Later on 
the whole adherent surface of the stem may produce adven- 
titious roots. The internodes of the twining stem are of 
great length. The pitchers are borne on short and thick 
lateral shoots. Sometimes two pitchers are produced at the 
first node of such a shoot, sometimes a pitcher arises on one 
side, and an ordinary leaf on the other. The pitcher-bearing 
branch usually grows very slowly, and its internodes remain 
for a time extremely short, several successive pairs of pitchers 
often being formed at its nodes. Sooner or later however the 
branch ceases to produce pitchers, and then grows out into 
an elongated twining shoot of the character usual in the 
plant. A full description of the habit and external morphology 
will be found in Treub’s paper 1 . 
The pitchers themselves are of great size compared with the 
normal leaves, usually attaining a length, when mature, of 
about four inches. The pitcher, which is attached to the 
stem by a short stout petiole, forms an elongated, somewhat 
flattened sac, with a narrow opening at the end adjacent to 
the petiole. The edges of the pitcher are turned in at the 
mouth, the fold thus formed considerably narrowing the 
entrance. Fig. i gives some idea of a young pitcher as seen 
1 Sur les urnes du Dischidia rafflesiana (Wall ). Annales du Jardin Bot. de 
Buitenzorg, vol. iii. 1883, p. 13. 
