with its luxuriant dark green shining leaves, graceful habit of growth, and large richly-coloured pitchers, is an attractive and remarkable object in any collection of plants.
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The plant on the left in the plate is Nepenthes distillatoria, the first species introduced to Europe. The length of its pitcher is equal to those of Rafflesiana, but it is much less capacious. The neck and upper part are exceedingly graceful and almost classical in form. The aperture and lid are circular, and about an inch in diameter. The colour is a rich yellow, shading into red in the upper parts. The attractiveness of this species is increased by the tendency of the cirrhus to curve and form one or two rings, as is often seen in the tendrils of the vine.
The plant on the right is Nepenthes lævis, a less robust but graceful plant with smaller pitchers, presenting in form a medium between the two already described. There are several other species in cultivation, some more rare, but none intrinsically better than those here specified. Dried specimens, however, of several species have been received by Messrs. Low of Clapton, and Veitch of Chelsea, from the mountains of Borneo, far surpassing in size and novelty of form anything previously imagined in connection with this interesting class of plants. Dr. Hooker, who has recently published a very interesting description of them in the “Transactions of the Linnean Society,” mentions one as “a noble species, with very remarkable pitchers, very unlike any other species;” and describes another as “certainly one of the most striking vegetable productions hitherto discovered.” We are not surprised at this designation of a plant producing pitchers six inches in diameter, and twelve inches long, the aperture of which is covered with an everted annulus or ring an inch or an inch and a half broad. We can only hope that seeds have come, or will follow the dried specimens, so that these magnificent species may be added to those we already possess.
Mr. Veitch of the Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, amongst the most successful cultivators of these curious plants, and to the 314,000 visitors who annually resort to the Royal Gardens at Kew, the pitcher-plants are always attractive objects.
