PLANTS THAT TRAP FOOD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12859, 6 May 1905, Page 5 (Supplement)

PLANTS THAT TRAP FOOD.

A CURIOUS LEAF

L'hkrk are to be seen at the University of Pennsylvania, in America, which is noted for its collection of orchids and plants, curious tropical plants, called Nepenthes. The name' is from the Greek, meaning removing sorrow. lb has been applied to a magic potion, calculated to banish the remembrance of grief and enliven the spirits. The word is now used figuratively to express any remedy which gives rest and con* solution, to an afflicted mind. The humorist who named these plants at the vivarium Xepenehts did so because they settle once and for all the troubles of any living thing that, comes to drink from the pitcherliko structure that is suspended alluringly from each leaf. Having captured the thirsty one, the plant cats if at its leisure.

The innocent looking fluid with which the pitchers of this plant are tilled is not water, but a stupefying liquid that numbs the senses of i\w rat, mouse, or roach lilac seeks to assuage its thirst. Having stupefied the intruder, the plant then prevents its escape by closing the entrance to the pitcher. In the lid of this curious leeeptacle ate two spikes, in appearance exactly like the fangs of a rattlesnake raised to strike. These spikes close with deadly effect on the neck of the rat. which has inserted its head in the pitcher, and even if he does not succumb to the effect of the drug lie has imbibed he is unable to withdraw his head from the trap, by reason of the spikes that have penetrated his neck. In time, according to those, who are familiar with the habits of this strange plant, the prisoner is drawn into the interior of the pitcher, juices are employed to dissolve the body, and the creature is slowly absorbed, and goes to nourish the plant at whose inviting cup the victim came innocent lv to drink.

.According to the keeper of the vivarium, a close study of the habits of this plant shows that it is subject to loss of appetite, just as human beings are. Since being iu captivity, so to speak, it has eaten less than report says it is accustomed to eat in its native habitat. The longer it remains in the artificially heated atmosphere of the vivarium the less it seems to want to eat, although there is no sign that it suffers from this voluntary deprivation. Food that it has captured from the live things that make their home in the vivarium remains undigested iu the pitchers for a long time. Where once, the merest touch would electrify lie. plant into life, and cause it' to close its fangs in search of a victim, the queer, uncanny flung now languidly and leisurely responds to extraneous influences, There are a. number of Nepenthes now planted in the vivarium of the university, and they are a. source of never ending interest to the botanists who visit, this adjunct to the biological department of the college. To what use they could be put in England is not plain. As rat, mouse or roach traps they would doubtless be invaluable in any household, but. the, temperature at which* the house would have to be kept to ensure the plants living would make their presence the greater of two evils: