598 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 21, 1887. 
latter is furnished, with numerous tentacles, the tips of 
which are covered at all times by a viscid secretion that 
glistens like dewdrops in the hottest of weather. Flies 
or other small animals, should they venture on this 
treacherous and dangerous ground, are almost certain to 
meet their fate. The more they struggle the deeper 
they sink in the gluey mass, and soon pass beyond all 
further trouble or danger. The tentacles slowty infold, 
and now pour out an acid secretion on their victim, 
digesting it in the true sense of the word. The leaf is 
at this stage comparable to a temporary stomach, and 
as liable to he deranged as that of an animal. Too 
many flies will give it the dyspepsia, or even kill it. 
Drosera is, moreover, not only a beef-eater, but a 
vegetarian as well, and has no objection to a diet of 
Peas, Cabbage leaves, seeds or pollen, or, in fact, almost 
anything else containing nitrogenous matter. One good 
point in its favour, however, is that the leaf is wholly 
indifferent to alcohol, and we may therefore conclude 
it is strictly tea-total in habit. Milk on the other 
hand causes a most energetic action. 
The Bladderworts (Utricularia) afford another in¬ 
stance of a group of predaceous plants, showing a 
striking departure from those already mentioned. 
The floating or submerged leaves, or much-divided 
branches as some botanists consider them, are furnished 
with bladders by which they entrap and devour minute 
crustaceous and small water insects. As far as numbers 
are concerned, they are, probably, far more destructive 
of animal life than the Fly-trap or the Sundew. The 
bladders are prison-houses, furnished at the mouth 
or opening with a trap-door that opens inwards, and 
miniature water animals in passing over this treacherous 
and insecure footing, drop inside with remarkable ease 
and certainty. It is difficult to determine what causes 
them to incur such peril, seeing that they may be in 
quest of food or shelter, or merely prying into those 
places out of curiosity. Moreover, there is neither let 
nor hindrance to regulate the number of victims so long 
as there is room inside. Neither can these bladders 
suffer from indigestion, as they do not possess a true 
digestive faculty. They secrete a fluid that hastens 
decay, and then absorb the products. There is no 
evidence to show that these unfortunate victims ever 
escape after being once immured, as the trap-door 
closes again immediately after an animal drops 
through. 
The Nepenthes or Pitcher Plants maybe regarded as 
the aristocracy of carnivorous plants. They may be 
considered so, either on account of their size, their 
showiness, or their capacity for snaring and destroying 
the lives of comparatively large animals, as well as 
insects of all kinds that may come within their in¬ 
fluence. The pitchers, even before the lid opens, 
contain a liquid with a sweetish, not unpleasant, taste, 
which proves much more efficient in wetting an insect 
than water, so that we may regard the death of that 
animal as a case of drowning. The watery secretion 
is, therefore, perfectly independent of rain, and when 
the pitcher opens, small animals will get in and perish 
in considerable numbers. The allurements are mani¬ 
fold, and differ according to the kinds of animals that 
visit the pitchers. In their native wilds, many insects 
are, doubtless, attracted by the brilliant colours of the 
pitchers themselves, while carnivorous ones, such as 
ants, are allured by the smell of captured animals, and 
coming in quest of food, meet their own fate. To the 
credit of these intelligent insects, however, it may 
he stated that colonies, in the forests of Borneo, 
inhabit the withered and dry pitchers in the vicinity of 
living ones, which they pierce with holes, and despoil 
of their captured prey, without incurring the risk of 
their own lives. Birds are allured by the smell of 
decaying animal matter, and come in quest of food. 
If too hasty or indiscreet in their headlong eagerness 
to rob the pitchers, they often, owing to the structure 
of the latter, are unable to get out, but perish there. 
The rims of the pitchers are furnished with numerous 
teeth of greater or less length and sharpness, pointing 
downwards, so that birds are sometimes detained by 
these and perish there. In the hothouses of this 
country, cockroaches of great size fall an easy prey to 
the capacity and destroying power of the pitchers, 
although they are individually strong, and capable of 
doing much mischief amongst plants, and even the 
leather of boots, when at their liberty. Cases are also 
reported of rats being drowned in the pitchers. 
Some pitchers, in their native homes, attain an 
enormous size, and those of Nepenthes Rajah are cal¬ 
culated to contain a quart of water when full grown. 
The interior of a Nepenthes pitcher is lined with an 
enormous number of glands that secrete a clear watery 
fluid capable of digesting and absorbing animal matter. 
We have no reason to suppose that their capacity for 
digesting food of this kind is unlimited; but their 
appetite, from all appearance, is not easily destroyed. 
They may seem strange and singularly-habited plants 
in feeding upon the unsavoury and putrifying mass 
that is muddy with the decaying bodies of animals, and 
offensive to the nasal organs ; but they find a parallel 
in their equivalents—the aristocracy of the human 
race, who will not condescend to use venison till it 
practically becomes endowed with, or changed into, 
fresh life. Nay, further, English travellers in foreign 
countries, under a broiling sun, have been constrained 
to drink liquid from these Pitcher Plants flavoured 
with the macerating bodies of insects. They took no 
harm by it, but might possibly have had their digestion 
assisted thereby. 
Parasitic Plants. 
Truly parasitic plants amongst the British flora are 
represented by the Broom-rape and the Dodder. The 
most striking feature of these peculiar forms of vege¬ 
tation is their strange and weird-looking colours. 
These may be yellow, red, brown, or some other lurid 
or livid hue, but never green. Chlorophyll or leaf- 
green is absent, a sure sign that plants of this nature 
are unable to collect and assimilate their own food 
from the elements of the earth and the air. They affix 
themselves to the roots or other parts of green plants, 
and abstracting nourishment from them, are thus able 
to live. In this respect, they may be looked upon as 
the idle lords of the vegetable kingdom, who live at 
the expense of the industrial population. The species 
of Broom-rape (Orobanche) fix themselves to the roots 
of their host. 0. minor is not fastidious, but seems to 
take kindly and attach itself to a number of widely 
distinct families of plants. 0. Hederie prefers the Ivy, 
and seldom, if ever, grows on anything else ; while 0. 
ramosa proves injurious in fields of Hemp. The leaves 
of all these are small, scale-like, brown or yellow when 
fresh, and functionless. 
The Dodder (Cuscuta) has neither roots or leaves, 
and manages to subsist by twining round the leaves 
and stems of other plants into which it sends down 
sucker-like processes, abstracting the ready prepared 
food material. C. epitliymum grows on Thyme, Furze, 
Heath, Lotus and others, while the variety C. e. 
trifolii is a destructive pest in Clover fields. 
The most extraordinary parasite of any country is 
Rafllesia Arnoldi, named after Sir Stamford Raffles, 
Governor of the East Indian Company established in 
Sumatra, and Dr. Joseph Arnold, the naturalist w T ho 
discovered it in that island in ISIS. The whole plant 
is reduced to a single huge- flower, a full j r ard in 
diameter, surrounded in a young state by a number of 
scale-like bracts that fall away as the flower expands. 
The parasite attaches itself to the slender stems of a 
species of Vitis, with the tissues of which it contracts 
an inseparable union for life, feeding on the substance 
of the host plant. In a young state it appears as a 
swelling or protuberance on the stems of its host, and 
gradually developes into a huge bud resembling a 
Cabbage. As this expands into full bloom, the flower 
attains a diameter as above stated, and is of a brick-red 
or dull orange colour, covered with creamy yellow 
protuberances. The central cup is calculated to hold 
twelve pints of water. The whole flower weighs about 
fifteen pounds, is of a fleshy consistency, and smells of 
tainted beef, causing carrion flies to lay their eggs 
there. The different parts of the flower range from 
J in. to j in. in thickness. The flower remains in per¬ 
fection a few days only, and then rapidly putrifies in 
the tropical temperature of its native home. The flotver 
bud, from its first appearance on the stem of its host 
plant till it expands, requires a period of three months, 
and this growing and flowering period occurs after the 
rainy season, once a year. The wax model exhibited 
at Kew was formerly the property of the Horticultural 
Society.— J. F. 
-»>X<-=- 
At the Bath and "West of England Associa¬ 
tion’s Exhibition to be held at Dorchester, May 30th 
to June 3rd, the Horticultural department, as usual, 
will be under the superintendence of the Hon. and 
Rev. J. T. Boscawen. A cup (or money), value £10, is 
offered for the best group of Orchids, and £5 for the 
best specimen Orchid in the Show. Small prizes are 
also offered for collections of fruit, vegetables and 
Strawberries. 
NEW PLANTS CERTIFICATED 
By the Royal Botanic Society. 
May IS th, 1SS7. 
CiTAM/EDOREA EyNICHANTHUS. 
This is one of. the slender-stemmed Palms, and is 
covered in the younger stages with the green sheathing 
petioles of the leaves. The latter are long, arching 
and pinnate, with lanceolate or oblong segments tapering 
to the tip and becoming broader towards the top of the 
leaf; they are of a leathery texture and shining green. 
Botanical Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. B. S. 1'. illiams, 
Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Tipper Holloway. 
Odontoglossum Andersoxianoi splendens. 
The flowers of this fine variety are closely produced 
on an arching spike and are white, with a few large 
chestnut-brown blotches on the middle of the petals, 
with more numerous smaller ones on the outside of the 
petals. The labellum has one large blotch in front of 
the crest. Botanical Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. 
B. S. Williams, Upper Holloway. 
L.elia grandis. 
In habit this resembles a small L®lia purpurata, but 
the colours are very different and distinct. The sepals 
and petals are buff-coloured, a very novel departure 
from the ordinary run of Cattleyas. The tube of the 
corolla is white externally, with rosy crimson veins all 
over a paler ground colour on the lamina of the labellum. 
Botanical Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. B. S. Williams, 
Upper Holloway. 
L.ELIA PURPURATA CrPHERI. 
The flowers of this are rather smaller than the type, 
or it may be owing to the small size of the specimen 
exhibited. The sepals and petals, together with the 
tube of the labellum" externally, are pure white, which 
contrasts strongly with the intense purple or crimson- 
purple lamina, which has a small white blotch at the 
tip. Botanical Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. J. Cypher, 
Queen’s Road, Cheltenham. 
L.elia purpurata Wvattiana. 
The flowers of this are altogether paler than usual, 
which gives it a very distinct appearance. The sepals 
and petals are pure white, while the labellum has a 
pale rosy lamina, striated with darker veins. The yel¬ 
low throat is also much paler than usual, striated with 
rosy lines. Botanical Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. 
J. Cypher, Queen’s Road, Cheltenham. 
Cattleta Mendelii grandis. 
The sepals and broad petals of this variety are white 
or faintly suffused with blush. Usually there is a great 
contrast between the large golden blotch in the throat 
and the white lateral lobes, but in this instance the 
blotch is very pale, while the blotch at the tip of the 
lamina is also small and pale purple. Botanical Certi¬ 
ficate. Exhibited by Mr. F. J. Hill, gardener to 
H. Little, Esq., The Barons, Twickenham. 
Gloxinia Alfred Outraai. 
Although we seldom now find much novelty amongst 
seedling Gloxinias, that under notice must be reckoned 
one of them, with a white tube and margin of the 
lamina, while all the rest is of a rich rosy crimson 
shaded with violet in the throat. - The flowers are 
moderately large, and belong to the erect type. Flori- 
cultural Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. B. S. "Williams, 
Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway. 
Cattleta Mendelii, Mrs. Henry Little. 
This is a handsome and attractive variety, with sepals 
and broad flat petals of the warmest delicate rose or 
rosy pink, a colour altogether different from that 
generally seen in this Cattleya. The usual dark 
purple blotch on the labellum is, in this instance, 
very bright, as well as the golden yellow one in the 
throat. Botanical Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. F. 
J. Hill, gardener to Henry Little, Esq., The Barons, 
Twickenham. 
Odontoglossum Jacombiana. 
"While, evidently, one of the 0. Andersonianum type, 
this is very distinct with the white ground colour 
suffused with rose. There arc numerous very bright 
brownish purple spots all over the sepals and petals, 
which give the whole flower a very handsome appear¬ 
ance. Botanical Certificate. Exhibited by Mr. W. 
May, gardener to F. C. Jacomb, Esq , Stamford 
Hill. 
