Pitcher Plants The Elegant Insect Traps Pitcher Plants The Elegant Insect Traps written and illustrated by Carol Lerner Copyright © 1983 by Carol Lerner All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and re trieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Inquiries should be addressed to William Morrow and Company, Inc., 105 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lerner, Carol. Pitcher plants. Includes Index. Summary: Paintings, drawings, and text depict the species of plant known as pitcher plants, which eat insects to survive. 1. Pitcher plants—Juvenile literature. (1. Pitcher plants. 2. Insectivorous plants] I. Title QK917.L47 1982 583'.121 82-12514 ISBN 0-688-01717-7 ISBN 0-688-01718-5 (lib. bdg.) For Chuck Nelson The author thanks Rob Gardner, Curator, North Carolina Botanical Gard for his generous help and counsel. Contents Plants of Prey 9 Pitcher Plants Where They Grow 11 The Pitcher Leaf 16 Some Leaf Variations 25 Pitcher Flowers 28 Prey and Parasites The Victims 37 The Plunderers 39 A Special Relationship 46 Epilogue 53 Glossary 57 Collections of Pitcher Plants Open to the Public 59 Index 61 Plants of Prey The land is flat and monotonous, a lonely corner of coastal plain in the southeastern United States. The air is hot and quiet under a bright noon sun. Now and then the drill of a woodpecker clatters high in the trees to break the stillness. A narrow road leads through miles of pine trees— not forests but cultivated pine plantations. These trees stand tall and rigid, each one at the same height, planted in long straight rows. The pine nee dles in the treetops shade the ground below, leaving the stiff tree trunks in gloomy shadow. Where the plantation ends nature sprawls at ease, drenched in full sun. A low, grassy growth covers the ground, but the dense green is spattered with the 9