CANNIBAL PLANTS AND FLOWERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7434, 21 June 1902, Page 1

CANNIBAL PLANTS AND FLOWERS.

Most carnivorous {plants are of comparatively small size (writes 0. L. • Si'Oiear* Stevens in "Chambers's Journal "). The species recently discovered by Dunstan on the shores of !Lake Nioara^ua, however, ia not so. As this naturalist warn walking witih his dog he was attracted by ita arias of pain and terror, and-, hasbemang to thai rescue, found the animal held ny tflsrea . blaok sticky' bands, which had chafed tha skin to bleeding. These bands were tha branches of a newly-found V oainivorona plant, which hag fbeentaaimed by Dunstaar THB "l<AN3> OOTQPTTS." The branches are described aa being flex- : ible, polished blaok, without leaves, secreting a viscid fluid, end: furnished' 'wstftk a great number of suckers by whioh they attach themselves to their victims; ia might, in fact, be almost beEoved, without any great effort of the imagination, to ba am ortopus transformed into a 'plant. This uncanny product of the vegetable kingdom ia known to the natives as "the daril'a noose." The moth-catching plant (Araugia a~gene) Is a native of Central Airiest. It was introduced into Australia quite accMenfaU-f some eight or- nine "years ago, amd baa since heen extensively propagated there, it having 'been found that ite white and sweetsmelling'flowers attract and destroy vaat quantities of moths. The action Of THIS THTO.Y BEHABKAB&B VLXHT has been found by experiment to be purely mechanical. The calyx of the flower ia rather deep, and the receptacle for its sweet juices is placed at its base. Attracted by the powerful scent and the prospect of honey, the moth dives down into the calyx and protrudes its proboscis to reach the tenuptang food. Beiore it can accomplish its .purpose, however, the proboscis is nipped 'between two strong, hard, black , pincers which g_ard the passage. Once caught, there is.no escape; the insect in- . variably perishes miserably. The story of the upas-tree of Java i* well known. Up till quite recently it wa». supposed to 'be a anytn .pure and simple ; the letter from a "Dflitcb pfiysician'' published in the "'London Magazine" of 1783 hoaxed Erasmus Dairwin and ithe world, bnt .was merely one of the fabrications of the ingenious George Steevehs. My Becari, tho'^~ French explorer, has, however, discovered in Sumatra at plant which actually' doee give forth poisonous exhalations. Its exist- . ence had long been asserted by the natives; and, after diligent search, the intrepid Frenchman came across several specimens buried deep in the pathless forests of the far interior. It resembled* as hia ■ guides had foretold, A OHiANTCO IJLT. The spadix was over six feet high, tha spiked leaves were from ten to twelve feat * long, and the entire evil-smeUinig growth covered an area of over sixty square feet. The poisonous fumes were found *ybo ba strongest at sundown ami for about aa hourbefore sunrise. So vinulent were they* that a goat, a dog, asnd sundry o_h_P small amrmalq tethered at night in its immediate vicinity were found quite dead .and cold in the morning; while M. Becaii himself was rendered violently sick by a ' mere cursory examination of the plant and < its Burrotc__rngs. In the loathsome depths of its beU-shaped flowers were found fchj decaying 'bodies of innumerable hats, a_MJbirds, etc.