A MURDEROUS PLANT

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 6, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 18.

A MURDEROUS PLANT.

A CANADIAN climber, the physianthus albens, has received the name of "cruel plant" from its treatment of butterflies. It flowers in the month of August, and the butterflies, attracted by the perfume, hover around it in large numbers and push their trunks into the corollas to sip the honey. A pair of sensitive vegetable pincers in the heart of the flower grips the delicate proboscis, and, in spite of struggles to get free, the butterfly hangs suspended until it dies, says the New York Commercial Advertiser. Apparently the plant has nothing to gain by the death of the insect, as it is not "carnivorous," like the Venus fly-trap. In fact, if the butterfly were allowed to come and go, it would tend to foster the species by assisting cross-fertilization. It appears, however, that the "cruel plant" came originally from Brazil, where the butterflies are much stronger and extricate their suckers from the trap. We may add that another Canadian plant, the cnicus discolor, is charged with cruelty. The flower has a gland which secretes a viscous liquid capable of liming insects which are fond of it. Moreover, they seem to be stupefied and poisoned by it, and no reason can as yet be assigned for the deadly consequence.