Strange Plant Kingdom Cannibals Thrive in Western Gardens
Frequently the subject of fiction narratives, these strange plants actually devour insects for food! On the left is the Pitcher plant, nepenthes. Figure No. 1 shows the Pitcher plant as it appears normally,
while figure No. 2 shows what happens to the insects which venture within it. Figure No. 3 is the Drosera intermedia, or Sundew, several leaves of which have united to catch a small dragon-fly. Figure
No. 4 is a drawing of a Venus' Fly Trap, Dionaea muscipul'a, while figure No. 5 gives a closeup view of the same plant. Figure No. 6 shows a picture of the Sarracenia, popularly known as Indian Cup,
Side-saddle Flower and Trumpet Leaf, cut open to show the black mass of organic matter at the bottom which results from the plant's digestion of its captives. The photograph is of Cecil Solly, plant
authority, whose interesting articles appear regularly in Five Star Weekly.
By Cecil Solly
PLANTS that trap insects; plants that swallow
tiny water Creatures for food strange, fascin
ating cannibal inhabitants of the plant kingdom
can be grown successfully in your own backyard!
Not fiction, this though the subject has pro
vided many a writer with a weird plot Instead,
the fascinating members of this family actually are
stranger than the fiction they've inspired.
It is a matter of wonder to the gardener why
there should be any plants whose main item of diet
is provided by the trapping of unwary insects. Be
cause of the quaintness of this action, public in
terest never fails to center around them. Eric
Walther, Golden Gate Park's insect-control expert,
explains that because the soil where insect
eating plants grow is too acid, the plants get less
nitrogen than they need for health. They've learn
ed, therefore over thousands of generations to
absorb insects, which give them the vital nitrogen.
All plant life, Walther says, is carefully balanced;
what they cannot get from one source they take
from another. '
Stories usually magify the size of the prey cap
tured by these plants. Quite Small insects are their
usual captures, and never the large animals, such
as lions and tigers, with which the story-weavers
delight to credit them. In the fiction stories one
sometimes finds a tale of how the imaginary plants
stalk their game. Of course, we know that all
plants must stay where they are rooted, and by
some method of attraction draw the unsuspecting
small Insect into the trap.
IN most parts of the world it is a popular fallacy
that all plants Of this order come from tropical
countries and can only be grown in greenhouses.
This notion has undoubtedly been brought about
by the fact that all the Nepenthes or Pitcher
plants, showiest of the flesh-eaters, are truly trop
ical. They require a minimum temperature of
around 65 degrees, F.
Here in the west, we all know the Pitcher plant
that will grow out-of-doors and was found origin
ally in some of the marshy districts of California.
It is well known there under both the name of
Pitcher plant and California Side-saddle flower. To
day, this and other carnivorous plants are grown
out-of-doors with perfect safety as far north as
British Columbia, although they sometimes require
a slightly protected position. They must, of course,
be grown in a spot which is as much like their
native habitat as possible.
This particular plant, the Darlingtonia Califor
nica, captures rather large insects by tempting the
victims to enter the trap. The mouth of the Pitcher
is completely covered by a large hood Of a reddish
or purplish coloring on green, but liberally pro
vided with patches of translucenttissue. Any fly
ing insects that enter the trap batter themselves
against the interior of the hood, mistaking the
bright patches for openings. They continue this
fruitless endeavor to escape until they fall exhaus
ted into the bottom of the Pitcher and are duly
digested.
Anothe well-known native the Sarracenia is
found in many sections of this country and known
as the North American Pitcher plant. It captures
insects by a process similar to that of the Darling
tonia. The trap is slightly different. The mouth
is protected on the inner side by downward point
ing spines. Honey is exuded by glandular hairs
above the orifice. To render the apparatus more
effective, the inner walls f the plant are lined by
cells that have an cname-like smoothness, which
provides ho secure foothold for any insect that
ventures en them.
THE Venus Fly-Trap, or Dionaea, one of the
Greek names for Venus, is a native of the
swampe of North Carolina and other southern
states.
There have been many fables woven around this
plant It is one of extreme interest to gardeners,
owing to the irritability displayed by the fringes on
the winged leaves. The leaf is divided by the mid
rib into two nearly semi-circular halves. Each half
is fringed with stiff hairs and exactly resembles a
miniature rat-trap. When the hairs are touched
by a fly or other insect, the sides of the leaf are
brought together with a sudden snap, imprisoning
the intruder!
Although it is to be found in very few gardens
in this district, the Drosera Rotiindifolia, or com
mon English native Sundew, does very well here.
It is found in England in bogs and wet, peaty
places. It is not at all a difficult plant to grow,
providing it can be given similar garden conditions.
It is a small plant; only six inches high when in
flower. It spreads its neat rosette of long-stalked,
almost circular leaves flat on the ground. Every
leaf is covered with wine-red filaments, each with a
viscid gland at the tip, and looking like bo many
red pins in a pin-cushion.
When an insect lights on these filaments it is
immediately held by the fluid. The more it strug
gles the more it is covered with the sticky sub
stance. The filaments Blowly close in On the insect,
taking two or three hours to complete the job. By
that time it is pressed securely into the center of
the leaf and gradually dissolved and digested by
a secreted fluid.
THERE are several native species of the Butter
wort, quite common on the east coast from New
York to Florida. They are curious and beautiful
little plants named from the Latin word Pinguis,
meaning fat, referring to the greasiness of the
leaves.
They are marsh plants and refuse to exist out
of their native habitat. Therefore, great care is
necessary to grow them in a garden here, although
if conditions are duplicated and the plants healthy
their beautiful flowers are the admiration of every
beholder. The plant traps small insects by means
of the greasy excretion on its leaves.
There are many forms of the genus of the
curious aquatic Bladderwort, or Lobster-Pot, to
be found throughout the United States. They are
submerged aquatics, with multitudes of small blad
ders, each with a tiny opening protected on the
inside by stiff hairs, arranged much like the inter
ior mouth of a lobster-pot. These bladder-like ap
pendages aid the plant to float or sink, as desired,
and also entrap minute water creatures.
It is particularly interesting that during the
early stage of the plant, the small "bladders" at
the roots are filled with water; but, when the
flowers are ready to expand, they become filled
with air. After the season of flowering the vesicles
become again filled with water, and the plant de
scends to ripen its seeds on the bottom.
All of these plants incidentlly will bring addi
tional interest to the home garden. They are not
so easily grown as some of the better-known
plants, but the additional care will be repaid by the
results. There is ' always something attractive
about the unusual.
Reno Preacher Says: "Self-Pity is Losing Game
Can't Concentrate on Miseries and Pleasant Things at Same Time, Famed "Sky-Pilot" Advises
II
POR a Quarter of century. Brewster Adams, beloved
f Baptist pastor of Reno, hat known all phases of life.
City folk and desert dwellers; wealthy and poor alike call
him "friend." Out of his great (tore of rich, human experi
ence, Brewster Adams is writing these stories for readers
of Five Star Weekly. And they're stories you won't want
to miss. Watch for the Reno preacher's Sage comments
and colorful anecdotes. They will be a regular feature of
Five Star Weekly. Editor.
By BREWSTER ADAMS
(For 25 Teats Reno's Baptist Preacher)
IF you want to get down so low that you have to
reach up to scratch a worm . . .
If you want to dig a pit for yourself, a grave
with little chance of
resurrection ...
If you want to have
folks say about you, "I
knew her when she was
very nice" Or "he used
to be quite a man" . . .
If you want to put
yourself out of the
game and sit on the
sidelines . . .
If you want to be
miserable and wretched,
neither amiable, agree
able nor attractive to
others, then . . .
Just start being sorry
for yourself. It's the sure way to unhappiness!
SELF-PITY is a concentration on our miseries.
It shuts out everything pleasant. Two things are
too many to think of at once! It can't be done.
I try to tell my good wife that t can't write this
and be reminded that the house is cold at the same
time. She must choose between a humble coal
heaver and a man who is up on the football scores
"Yes, my dear, I'll fill the hod."
But, as I was saying before this interruption,
you can't enjoy your misery and remember your
blessings at the same time. These blessings are as
sensitive as the fellow who puts little in the box.
Ignore him and he never cornea again.
"Poor me" leaves me poor, indeed. It not only
leaves us forlorn but alone. A good friend is will
ing to bear our burdens with us, but not even
Christ asked to share our complaints.
Sympathy is a fine word. The lexicon will tell
you that it implies some degree of equality, Kin
dred, or unity, while pity is a feeling for those who
Brewtter Adam
are weaker or inferior to ourselves. Just as the
Democrats may feel pity, but have no sympathy,
for us Republicans.
PITY makes us the under dog which reminds
me of our old English setter, Sam. He used to
come into the house and after making several
turns, reminiscent of wolf days and deep grass,
would lie down before the fireplace with a sigh of
deepest content. He had everything family, fire
and food. A dog-gone good dog.
But you could talk him to tears, plaguing him
with pity. "Poor, old Sam. Poor, old boy," you
said it with mournful tone. He would look up with
those sad eyes Of his, groan with a low lament and
slowly come up and put his head on your knee
with a whimper of weeping as plainly evident as
though he were shedding tears.
If you haven't a good dog (if hot, I am sorry)
try it on the children or even on yourself. "You
poor little dear, did somebody abuse you? Does no
body love you?" Certainly, you can get anybody
crying and, what Is far worse, you can make your
self cry.
Folks do that to children and wonder why they
become cry babies. Contrast that with a friend of
mine who takes his small boy hunting ducks, puts
him out in a cold box in the tules and says to his
friends, before the lad, "Bobby can take it. Cold
or wet or wind, he never cries." And Bobby would
freeze before he would let out a cry. The ducks
may squawk, but not the lad.
Bobby is apt to be quite a man. He hasn't shot
any ducka, although his dad credits him with tome
when both shoot at the same time for encourage
ment I remember when out with my small son a
couple of ducks dropped in. I whispered, "YOU take
the one on the right and I'll take the left" Think
ing it might disappoint the lad to miss, I shot at
his bird. It dropped and mine got away, t missing
on the second shell.
It was disconcerting, but really funny, to have
the boy speak up, "Dad, you missed youra. Next
time I had better take them both." That confidence
was just what he needed. Up to then, he had
always pitied himself because he couldn't get
them. We all miss them, but crying never helps
our aim.
THERE was "Squeak" Harriman! ... I beg par
don, It is now Mr. Harriman, prominent in
business, school, bank and club in Elko. He has
about as many friends as a man could have who
sells automobiles.
When Squeak Mr. Harriman I should say was
in the University of Nevada he was one o our
best linesmen. But he was too amiable. He seemed
to feel sorry for his opponent and careful for him
self. The boys used to frame on him and one of his
Own team would catch him in the pile-up and ad
minister some gentle little football gesture noth
ing serious, perhaps a kick in the face, or a cleat
in his stomach and presently they had one of the
best linesmen Nevada has ever boasted.
Strange, how some folks seem to enjoy misery.
There was little Rachel whom I knew down, in the
slums. Like a lot of people who are well off, but
still live in the slums of depressed mind, she once
asked of me:
"Mister Adams, have youse seen de play over at
de Bowery T'eater? Youse ought to see it. It's de
saddest show fer ten cents dat I ever seen."
Seems humanity has always let Itself down by
being sorry for itself. Dust off the Old Book and
read of Elijah, the prophet, who laid under a juni
per tree, lamenting that he was the only good man
left and nobody appreciated him.
"I, even I only, am left, and they seek to take
my life." And the Lord rebuked him for his woe
fulness. "Elijah, go forth and stand upon the mount. . . ,
I have left me seven thousand In Israel, all the
knees which have not bowed unto Baal."
YOU see, the trouble was the prophet "got down,"
and there is no profit in that. Contrast that
depression with David, the sweet singer, who "en
couraged himself in the Lord" as the Psalms say.
How much better it is to give ourselves a break
even to imagine ourselves to be pretty good
folks.
It wouldn't do for me to advocate betting. My
folks taught me that if I was a good boy I wouldn't
bet, but a lot of my friends say that a man who
doeen't bet is no bettor ( I'll bet the printer spoils
that one).
But as a preacher who sees so many giving
themselves the worst of it, I would take a chance
on saying, as all clean sportsmanship requires and
all good sense dictates:
"Never bet against yourself tq win."
RAOI FIVI