WHAT'S HOT
Prev | Current Page 254 | Next

Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882

"The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants"


{34} Prof. Asa Gray informs me that the tendrils of P. sicyoides
revolve even at a quicker rate than those of P. gracilis; four
revolutions were completed (the temperature varying from 88 degrees-
92 degrees Fahr.) in the following times, 40 m., 45 m., 38.5 m., and
46 m. One half-revolution was performed in 15 m.
{35} See M. Isid. Leon in Bull. Soc. Bot. de France, tom. v. 1858,
p. 650. Dr. H. de Vries points out (p. 306) that I have overlooked,
in the first edition of this essay, the following sentence by Mohl:
"After a tendril has caught a support, it begins in some days to wind
into a spire, which, since the tendril is made fast at both
extremities, must of necessity be in some places to the right, in
others to the left." But I am not surprised that this brief
sentence, without any further explanation did not attract my
attention.
{36} Sachs, however ('Text-Book of Botany,' Eng. Translation, 1875,
p. 280), has shown that which I overlooked, namely, that the tendrils
of different species are adapted to clasp supports of different
thicknesses. He further shows that after a tendril has clasped a
support it subsequently tightens its hold.
{37} Annales des Sc.


Pages:
242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258