State

Fly Traps, Bugles and Pitchers Л former resilient of North C'siroliiiu ileser i bos three of the most unusual plants found in the eastern port of the state. «I/ mini: uni: kkwon JUST now, when I unlocked my mailbox, the first thing 1 saw w-as the cover of The State Magazine, with the picture of the Venus Fly Trap on it. I did not look at the rest of the mail: I just stared at that picture, and instantly I was again a very small girl, years and years ago. wading in Grandpa Buie’s millpond in front of our house down in Robeson County, while Aunt Mary watched to see that I did not drown. Yes. that picture certainly took me back many, many years. The Venus Fly Traps floated all around our wading place. My mother was a wonderful teacher, and she told us all about it. We would watch it eat the bugs, and then open the palms of its hands and wait for other victims to appear. Usually the leaves were floating in a circle, and in the middle of a straight slender 4-or-5-inch stem was topped with a cluster of pretty yellow flowers. A long root hung down from the circle into the water. Our plants were not quite so large as the one shown in your picture. < Editor’s note: the cover picture w'as really an enlargement of the plant as it actually appeared.) The Pitcher Plant And just at the edge of the water, in the mud. were the pitcher plants and bugles. The pitcher plant is beautiful. The little pitchers arc dark red and green, and they too grow in a circle. Each little pitcher is curved, so it is always upright and always has water in* it. It. too. has the same sharp prongs that the Venus Fly Trap has, and these are pointed to the bottom of the pitcher. When the unsuspecting insect marched happily down into the pitcher until he came to the water and probably got a drink, and then turned to march out again, he found it impossible to do so and had to stay right where he was. THE STATE March 22. 1947 To crawl against those prongs was a physical impossibility, and the pitcher plant ate him alive. It has a single flower, on a pretty red stem a foot or a foot and a half in height. We played with them and called them our watches. The flower is no bigger than a watch. The middle of it is like an umbrella, with the petals curling out from under it. The bugle stood straight up. was green and about a foot and a half or two feet high. I don’t think it had prongs, but the investigating bugs fell to the bottom and couldn't get out again. The single flower was green, tinged with yellow, and was almost exactly like the pitcher- plant flower. Now they may be old friends of yours, just as they are of mine, but if you haven’t seen them, I hope some day you will see them. Look in your dictionary and you will find pictures of them. (Editor’s note: I have seen the Venus Fly Trap but never have seen either the pitcher plant or the bugle.) .Millpond is No More Our millpond is no more. A big storm some ten years ago washed out the old wooden-machinery sawmill, but left the grist mill. Grass now grows where once we waded with our Fly Traps and pitcher plants and lovely gray cypress trees. My sister. Miss Katie Buie, still lives on the old home place, and I go down to visit sev¬ eral times each year. It is located near Red Springs. This long letter was not intended. 1 sat down merely to tell you what a sincere pleasure it was to me to just sit down and look at the pic¬ ture. It took me on a very delight¬ ful trip back to the long-long-ago of my childhood. Although now living away from North Carolina. I never have lost my great love for the state and The Venus Fly Trap its people. I was one of the first students to enroll in Woman's Col¬ lege in 1892, was President Mc- Iver's secretary and taught short¬ hand and typing as Mr. Forney’s assistant for more than five years. Have been living here, in Wash¬ ington. D. C., ever since. There have been many changes in North Carolina since I came up here to make my home, but there has been no change in our people: they are just as fine, hospitable, friendly and kindly as they ever were. It is needless for me to say that I enjoy every minute of my visits to the Old North State. There is an interesting Quaker Settlement near Guilford Battle¬ ground. about five miles northeast of Greensboro. The British and American wounded were cared for at this settlement. It is here that the Quaker School. Guilford College, is located. This is a co-ed institution which has been in con¬ tinuous operation since 1838. s