Part 13

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In that singular plant, the Eel or Tapegrass, a plant indigenous to our slow flowing waters, the elastic flower-bearing stem uncoils to reach the surface of the water, drawn thither by some mysterious hidden attraction towards the pollen-bearing flowers, which are produced at the bottom of the water on very short scapes, and which, united by the same vegetable instinct, break away from the confining bonds that hold them and rise to the surface, where they expand and scatter their fertilizing dust upon the fruit-bearing flowers which float around them; these, after a while, coil up again and draw the pod-like ovary down to the bottom of the water, there to ripen and perfect the fruit; a curious fact vouched for by Gray and many other creditable botanists.

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YELLOW POND LILY. (SPATTER DOCK.) Nuphar advena.

And there the bright Nymphæa loves to lave, And spreads her golden orbs along the dimpling wave.

THE Yellow Pond Lily is often found growing in extensive beds, mingled with the White, and though it is less graceful in form, there is yet much to admire in its rich orange-coloured flowers, which appear at a little distance like balls of gold floating on the still waters. The large hollow petal-like sepals that surround the flower are finely clouded with dark red on the outer side, but of a deep yellow orange within, as also are the strap-like petals and stamens: the stigma, or summit of the pistil, is flat, and 12-24 rayed. The leaves are dark-green, scarcely so large as those of the White Lily, floating on long thick fleshy stalks, flattened on the inner side, and rounded without. The botanical name Nuphar is derived, says Gray, from the Arabic word Neufar, signifying Pond Lily.

Our Artist has closely followed nature’s own arrangements by grouping these beautiful water plants together.

Where there is a deep deposit of mud in the shallows of still waters we frequently find many different species of aquatics growing promiscuously. The tall lance-like leaf and blue-spiked heads of the stately Pontederia, keeping guard as it were above the graceful Nymphæa, like a gallant knight with lance in rest, ready to defend his queen, and around these the fair and delicate white flowers of the small arrow-head rest their frail heads upon the water, looking as if the slightest breeze that ruffled its surface would send them from their place of rest.

Beyond this aquatic garden lie beds of wild rice Zizania aquatica, with its floating leaves of emerald green, and waving grassy flowers of straw colour and purple—while nearer to the shore the bright rosy tufts of the Water Persicaria, with its dark-green leaves and crimson stalks, delight the eyes of the passer-by.

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SARRACENIA PURPUREA (Side-saddle Flower) (Pitcher Plant) (Huntsman’s Cup)

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NAT. ORD. SARRACENIACEÆ.

PITCHER PLANT. (SOLDIER’S DRINKING CUP.) Sarracenia purpurea.

EVEN the most casual observer can hardly pass a bed of these most remarkable plants without being struck by their appearance, indeed, from root to flower, it is every way worthy of our notice and admiration.

The Pitcher Plant is by no means one of those flowers found singly and in inaccessible bogs and dense cedar-swamps, as are some of our rare and lovely Orchids. In almost any grassy swamp, at the borders of low lying lakes, and beaver-meadows, often in wet spongy meadows, it may be found forming large beds of luxuriant growth.

When wet with recent showers or glistening with dew-drops, the rich crimson veinings of the broadly scalloped lip of the tubular leaf (which is thickly beset with fine stiff silvery hairs), retaining the moisture, shine and glisten in the sun-light.

The root is thick, solid, and fibrous. The tubular leaves are of a reddish tinge on the outer and convex side, but of a delicate light green within. The texture is soft, smooth, and leathery; the base of the leaf, at the root, is narrow and pipe-stem like, expanding into a large hollow receptacle, capable of containing a wine-glass full of liquid; even in dry seasons this cup is rarely found empty. The hollow form of the leaves, and the broad ewer-like lips, have obtained for the plant its local and wide-spread name of “Pitcher Plant,” and “Soldier’s Drinking Cup.” The last name I had from a poor old emigrant pensioner, when he brought me a specimen of the plant from the banks of a half dried up lake, near which he was located: “Many a draft of blessed water have we poor soldiers had when in Egypt out of the leaves of a plant like this, and we used to call them the ‘Soldier’s Drinking Cup.’”

Most probably the plant that afforded the blessed water to the poor thirsty soldiers was the Nepenthe distillaria, which plant is found in Egypt and other parts of Africa. Perhaps there are but few among the inhabitants of this well-watered country that have as fully appreciated the value of the PITCHER PLANT as did our poor uneducated Irish pensioner, who said that he always thought that God in His goodness had created the plant to give drink to such as were athirst on a hot and toilsome march; and so he looked with gratitude and admiration on its representative in Canada. Many a lesson may we learn from the lips of the poor and the lowly.

Along the inner portion of the leaf there is a wing or flap which adds to its curious appearance: from the section of the leaf has arisen the somewhat inappropriate name of “Side-Saddle Flower.” The evident use of this appendage is to contract the inner side of the leaf, and to produce a corresponding rounding of the outer portion, which is thus thrown back, and enables the moisture more readily to fill the cup. Quantities of small flies, beetles, and other insects, enter the pitcher, possibly for shelter, but are unable to effect a return, owing to the reflexed bristly hairs that line the upper part of the tube and lip, and thus find a watery grave in the moisture that fills the hollow below.

The tall stately flower of the Pitcher Plant is not less worthy of our attention than the curiously formed leaves. The smooth round simple scape rises from the centre of the plant to the height of 18 inches to 2 feet. The flower is single and terminal, composed of 5 sepals, with three little bracts; 5 blunt broad petals of a dull purplish-red colour, sometimes red and light-yellowish green; and in one variety the petals are mostly of a pale-green hue, and there is an absence of the crimson veins in the leafage. The petals are incurved or bent downwards towards the centre. The stamens are numerous. The ovary is 5-celled, and the style is expanded at the summit into a 5 angled, 5 rayed umbrella-like hood, which conceals beneath it 5 delicate rays, each terminating in a little hooked stigma. The capsule or seed vessel is 5-celled and 5-valved; seeds numerous.

I have been more minute in the description of this interesting plant, because much of its peculiar organization is hidden from the eye, and cannot be recognized in a drawing, unless a strictly botanical one, with all its interior parts dissected, and because the Pitcher Plant has lately attracted much attention by its reputed medicinal qualities in cases of small-pox, that loathsome scourge of the human race. A decoction from the root of this plant has been said to lessen all the more violent symptoms of the disorder. If this be really so, its use and application should be widely spread; fortunately, the remedy would be in the power of every one; like many of our sanative herbs it is to be found without difficulty, and being so remarkable in its appearance can never be mistaken by the most ignorant of our country herbalists for any injurious substitute.

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The belief that a decoction of this plant is of use in small-pox has been found by experiment to be quite chimerical.—J. B.

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1 CASTILLEIA COCCINEA (Scarlet painted Cup)

2 ORCHIS SPECTABILIS (Showy Orchis)

3 ARUM TRIPHYLLUM (Indian Turnip)