A NEW FLESH-EATING PLANT.

Evening Star, Issue 4094, 10 April 1876, Page 4

A NEW FLESH-EATING PLANT.

(From the Melbourne Argue,)

Old playgoers in these Colonies may remember a clever actor and accomplished elocutionist who ably seconded the late G. V. Brooke in some of his heat performances. ' This gentleman, ‘Mr Hefify Edwards, was also known to’a limited circle as an enthusiastic entomdldgist. Some years ago he migrated frbm Melbourne to San Francisco, where, without relinquishing the theatrical profession, for- which he possessed tmany; qualifications, he engaged with redoubled earnestness in the pursuit of- Bcienice Y and has formed the finest collection of insects—numbering over 200,000c-specimens—-to be found foprivatehands bn the North American attainments have received the:.recognition they deserve in his neWsSphere of effort, as he has been elected Vice-president ot the Californian Academy of Sciences, President of the Bohemian. Club, and. director of the Fine Arts’ Association. By the last mail we received from him a photograph of a remarkable in-sect-eating plant,, which he has been fortunate enough to discover near the base of Mount Shasta, and which may he justly regarded as one of the vegetable wonders of the Pacific coast. The iuseetiverous plants hitherto found and described are those known as the common Sun-dew ’(Drosera rotundifolia) ; the Venus fly-trap (Dioncea muscipula); ' an. aquatic plant growing in Queens land, land known as the Aldrovahda vclsiciuosay which feeds upon water- , beetles] tite Drosophyllum Lusitanicum, which-the villagers in some parts of Portugal hang up in their cottages as a , living fly-catcher j the Pinguicula vulgaris, which flourishes in North Wales; • > and several vaiieties of the ITtricularia ; all of which are fully described by Mr Darwin, in his work on “ Insectivorous Plants. ” ,But, so far as we are aware, the existence of carnivorous habits among the pitcher plants was uosnspected until observed and verified by Mr Edwards. The Saracenia and Darlingtonia have at all times attracted the attention of botanists on account of their remarkable structure, and also in consequence of the habit they have of secreting water in their pitchers, of which many wild animals, and notably monkeys, take advantage to quench their thirst; It has also been noticed that certain insects were often drowned in the fluid thus secreted, whether by accident or in consequence of their deposition there by other insects was uncertain. Thus Sir J. E. Smith, in his “ Introduction to N Botany/’ mentions a case of a sphex or ichneumon, dragging large flies to Saraoenia adunca, and -forcing them under the lid. The leaves of the plant were all crammed with dead flies, and S. purpurea was ascertained to be used as a similar storehouse; but nobody suspected the plant, itself of being'a flesh-eater.. This, however, has proved tp be MriEdwards thus describes his earliest, acquaintance With the Carnivorous Pitcher . Plant : when I first met with the plant in the neighborhood of Mount Shasta, the flowers had become perfectly erect, and most .ofothe capsules had burst and discharged their sped. It struck me that this may be owing to a careful provision of nature, which afforded the plant, imitbeefeme 1 erect ih ripening, an opportunity of spreading its seed to a neater distance than it could do if the; nowor/cbntm in a drooping position. Tlie seeds themselves are armed at their .extremity with small bristles, which cause them to adhere to the sphagnum and other bog plants of • th&r habitat, and thus secnre against being washed away by any excess of water in the bogs in Which the plant has its home. Interesting as the plant of JDarlingtonia is, however, it yields in general attractiveness to the leaves, which are not only peculiar in form and strucblit perform one of those curious functions in nature, the object of which we can by no means clearly understand, but which are none the less csdcdlated to excite our^wonder and admiration. Viewed from a little distance, a growth of Darlingtonias presents a most beautiful and singular appearance, having a fanciful resemblance to a number oi yellow-hooded snakes, with head erect, in the act of making the fatal spring.” The leaf of this plant, which ,is tubular from top to bottom, sometimes reaches the height of 3ft 6in, with a peculiar twist !m itsittem'i the brightly-colored hood, in welt-grown plants, being as large' as a man’s fist, divided in front and above the 'mouth into two lanceolate lobes, somewhat resembling a long and loose moustache. The--interior of the tube, for about half its- 1 I&figth, r |is;■ smooth and semitransparent, do not care ahotit ventnring:into dark places. But, from that distance to the bottom ic be(»mes ■&<& arid' is thickly set With hairs pointing downwaidS, so - to l facilitate ingress and Such an apparatus is admirably-adapted for the purpose forilrWas ; infehded by the Creator- ; Edwards ‘ observes “ The Easily be Jdd tOm is fca ke hoed . fq* : & flower, §mdering- into; ith retop tube lighted-by-the j^cuiatibns slightly Sudef t^wn^tendeof honey.

reach the bottom, find on attempting to retrace their steps that escape -is impossible, and their wings becoming useless by contact with the viscid discharge from the walls of the leaf, and the moisture secreted at the bottom of the tube, they sink to their death in large numbers, the tube sometimes being filled to the depth of from six to seven inches with the remains of insects in various stages of decomposition.”

Opening forty tubes, and examining their contents, Mr Edwards was enabled to discriminate no less than forty-three species of insects, belonging to seven orders, all of which he enumerated. The soft and digestible portion of these had been absorbed into the system of the plant and assimilated, but the harder integuments remained undissolved, the most richly-colored tubes attracting the largest number of unsuspicious victims. Aware of the insectivorous propensities of the Darlingtonia, a small spider spins its web over the mouth of some of the plants for the purpose of intercepting its prey. But one of the most singular provisions of nature connected with this vegetable phenomenon is that it strikes up a sort of partnership arrangement with a parasitical insect, which is just as serviceable to the plant as are the ants which are sheltered by, and defend the tender shoots of the Bull’s Horn from the predatory attacks of the leaf cutting ants, as described by Mr Belt in his “Naturalist in Nicaragua.” As we have said the Darlingtonia does not consume the harder portions of the wasps, beetles, hornets, and other insects which it allures to their destruc-. tion. Neither has it the power of ejecting these debris from the bottom of the tube. But their removal is effected by a white grab which feeds upon the material thus accumulated. “ This,” observes Mr Edwards, “ is probably the larva of a large fly which has been observed to stand upon the edge of the tube, and drop an egg into it. Soon after the full development of the leaf, the upper portions become brown and shrivelled, which is due to still another larva, the young of a small moth,which feeds upon the substance of the leaf, leaving only the outer epidermis, and works its way from above downward* until in due time it spins its cocoon, suspending it by silver threads just above the surface of the insect'debris at the bottom. The whole forms a series of relationship, and an instance of contrivance and design, the full purport of which is by no means fully understood. But this adaptation of a means to an. end, this correlation of one form of life with another, and this interdependence of the rooted animal upon the locomotive animal, and vice versa, obtain universally throughout the whole domain of nature \ and where they are not recognised, or not comprehended, the fault lies with our own imperfect or unintelligent observation. Mr Edwards states that “the Indians of the district around Mount Shasta are well acquainted with the fly-catching habit of Darlingtonia, but I regret to say that I could not discover their native name for the plant, nor could I learn that they ascribe to it any medicinal properties, I was the more surprised at this, as I was aware that to Saracenia purpurea is credited a large amount of virtue in cases of small-pox, a paper on its efficacy in this terrible disease having been contributed to ‘Land and Water’ in 1871 by Capt. Hardy, of the Royal Artillery, who spent some time in Newfoundland, and who derived his knowledge of the value of the pitcher plant from the Indians of that region. The portion of the plant used is the root, which has been introduced into England, and is sold, there at the high rate of 28s per lb. I mention this fact, as it is more, than probable that our own species may possess some hidden virtue which may prove equally as valuable to mankind.” The habitat of the Darlingtonia in California is on the foothills of the Sierra, at' an altitude of from I,oooft to 6,000 ft above the level of the sea. It most affects boggy spots, and more particularly those known to hunters as “deer licks.” Mr Robinson, of the London ‘ Field ’ newspaper, who has visited California for the purpose of studying the plant in its native haunts, states that it is by means difficult of cultivation, and that it is “ best treated by being grown in a soil of peat or peat and chopped sphagnum, kept wet, not merely moist, the pots or pans to be placed on a wet bottom—frame or coolhouse treatment being the best in winter, warm green-house or temperate stove in summer.”

Mr Edwards has promised to send some roots, of the Darlingtonia, when the season of the year is favorable for their transplantation, to a friend in Melbourne, with a view to their cultivation in Australia] so that, should the experiment be successful, naturalists here will have an opportunity of studying the habits of this remarkable plant for themselves.