. Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences. The Krubut is a parasite, growing in the woods, on the roots and stems of those immense chmbing plants, generally of the genus vitis (or vine), which are attached, like enormous cables, to the largest trees of the forest. The flower constitutes the whole of this plant, there being no leaves, and neither roots nor stems. Thus, the plant forms a complete anomaly in the history of vegetables. It grows out of an- other plant in the manner of the mistletoe, and not on the decayed surface of plants, as is the case with the common f
. Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences. The Krubut is a parasite, growing in the woods, on the roots and stems of those immense chmbing plants, generally of the genus vitis (or vine), which are attached, like enormous cables, to the largest trees of the forest. The flower constitutes the whole of this plant, there being no leaves, and neither roots nor stems. Thus, the plant forms a complete anomaly in the history of vegetables. It grows out of an- other plant in the manner of the mistletoe, and not on the decayed surface of plants, as is the case with the common fern on the trunks of old oak pollards. In the latter case, the proper term is not parasite^ but epiphyte* The flowers of this extraordinary plant are of one sex; and the male only has yet been sent to England. The breadth of a full flower exceeds three feet from the mar- gin of the one petal d to that of the other d; the petals, or leaves of the flower, are roundish, and measure twelve inches from the base to the apex. It is about a foot from the insertion of one petal to the opposite one; and that part which is considered the nectarium, or central cup of the flower, would hold twelve pints of liquid. The pistils, which are abortive, and as large as cows' horns, are represented in fig 2. h 6. The weight of the whole flower is calculated at about fifteen pounds. It is of a very thick substance, the petals and nectary being in few places less than a quarter of an inch thick, and in some parts three-quarters of an inch; it is succulent in texture, but of a firm fleshy consistence. The flower, fully blown, was discovered in a jungle of Sumatra, growing close to the ground, under the bushes, with a swarm of flies hovering over the nectary, and appai-ently layin"; their eggs in its substance. The colour of the five petals, or flower leaves, of which it is composed, is a brick-red, covered with protuberances of a yellowish white. The inside of the cup is of an in- tense purple, a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade, bookpublisheredinburgh, bookyear1835
