The plant whilst young and only a few inches in height, does
not produce any tendrils; and considering that it grows to only about
8 feet in height, that the stem is zigzag and is furnished, as well
as the petioles, with spines, it is surprising that it should be
provided with tendrils, comparatively inefficient though these are.
The plant might have been left, one would have thought, to climb by
the aid of its spines alone, like our brambles. As, however, it
belongs to a genus, some of the species of which are furnished with
much longer tendrils, we may suspect that it possesses these organs
solely from being descended from progenitors more highly organized in
this respect.
FUMARIACEAE.--Corydalis claviculata.--According to Mohl (p. 43), the
extremities of the branched stem, as well as the leaves, are
converted into tendrils. In the specimens examined by me all the
tendrils were certainly foliar, and it is hardly credible that the
same plant should produce tendrils of a widely different homological
nature. Nevertheless, from this statement by Mohl, I have ranked
this species amongst the tendril-bearers; if classed exclusively by
its foliar tendrils, it would be doubtful whether it ought not to
have been placed amongst the leaf-climbers, with its allies, Fumaria
and Adlumia.
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