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This Project Gutenberg Etext was prepared by David
Price
email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk from the 1906 John Murray
edition.
The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants
By Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S.
Second Edition Revised. 1888
PREFACE
CHAPTER I.
TWINING PLANTS.
Introductory remarks--Description of the twining of the Hop--Torsion of the stems--Nature of the revolving movement, and manner of ascent- -Stems not irritable--Rate of revolution in various plants--Thickness of the support round which plants can twine--Species which revolve in an anomalous manner.
CHAPTER II.
LEAF-CLIMBERS.
Plants which climb by the aid of spontaneously revolving and sensitive petioles--Clematis--Tropaeolum--Maurandia, flower-peduncles moving spontaneously and sensitive to a touch--Rhodochiton-- Lophospermum--internodes sensitive--Solanum, thickening of the clasped petioles--Fumaria--Adlumia--Plants which climb by the aid of their produced midribs--Gloriosa--Flagellaria--Nepenthes--Summary on leaf-climbers.
CHAPTER III.
TENDRIL-BEARERS.
Nature of tendrils--BIGNONIACEAE, various species of, and their different modes of climbing--Tendrils which avoid the light and creep into crevices--Development of adhesive discs--Excellent adaptations for seizing different kinds of supports.--POLEMONIACEAE--Cobaea scandens much branched and hooked tendrils, their manner of action-- LEGUMINOSAE--COMPOSITAE--SMILACEAE--Smilax aspera, its inefficient tendrils--FUMARIACEAE--Corydalis claviculata, its state intermediate between that of a leaf-climber and a tendril-bearer.
CHAPTER IV.
TENDRIL-BEARERS--(continued).
CUCURBITACEAE.--Homologous nature of the tendrils--Echinocystis lobata, remarkable movements of the tendrils to avoid seizing the terminal shoot--Tendrils not excited by contact with another tendril or by drops of water--Undulatory movement of the extremity of the tendril--Hanburya, adherent discs--VITACAE--Gradation between the flower-peduncles and tendrils of the vine--Tendrils of the Virginian Creeper turn from the light, and, after contact, develop adhesive discs--SAPINDACEAE--PASSIFLORACEAE--Passiflora gracilis--Rapid revolving movement and sensitiveness of the tendrils--Not sensitive to the contact of other tendrils or of drops of water--Spiral contraction of tendrils--Summary on the nature and action of tendrils.
CHAPTER V.
HOOK AND ROOT-CLIMBERS.--CONCLUDING REMARKS.
Plants climbing by the aid of hooks, or merely scrambling over other plants--Root-climbers, adhesive matter secreted by the rootlets-- General conclusions with respect to climbing plants, and the stages of their development.
PREFACE
This Essay first appeared in the ninth volume of the 'Journal of the Linnean Society,' published in 1865. It is here reproduced in a corrected and, I hope, clearer form, with some additional facts. The illustrations were drawn by my son, George Darwin. Fritz Muller, after the publication of my paper, sent to the Linnean Society (Journal, vol. ix., p. 344) some interesting observations on the climbing plants of South Brazil, to which I shall frequently refer. Recently two important memoirs, chiefly on the difference in growth between the upper and lower sides of tendrils, and on the mechanism of the movements of twining-plants, by Dr. Hugo de Vries, have appeared in the 'Arbeiten des Botanischen Instituts in Wurzburg,' Heft. iii., 1873. These memoirs ought to be carefully studied by every one interested in the subject, as I can here give only references to the more important points. This excellent observer, as well as Professor Sachs, [1] attributes all the movements of tendrils to rapid growth along one side; but, from reasons assigned towards the close of my fourth chapter, I cannot persuade myself that this holds good with respect to those due to a touch. In order that the reader may know what points have interested me most, I may call his attention to certain tendril-bearing plants; for instance, Bignonia capreolata, Cobaea, Echinocystis, and Hanburya, which display as beautiful adaptations as can be found in any part of the kingdom of nature. It is, also, an interesting fact that intermediate states between organs fitted for widely different functions, may be observed on the same individual plant of Corydalis claviculata and the common vine; and these cases illustrate in a striking manner the principle of the gradual evolution of species.
APPENDIX TO PREFACE (1882).
Since the publication of this Edition two papers by eminent botanists have appeared; Schwendener, 'Das Winden der Pflanzen' (Monatsberichte der Berliner Akademie, Dec. 1881), and J. Sachs, 'Notiz uber Schlingpflanzen' (Arbeiten des botanischen Instituts in Wurzburg, Bd. ii. p. 719, 1882). The view "that the capacity of revolving, on which most climbers depend, is inherent, though undeveloped, in almost every plant in the vegetable kingdom" ('Climbing Plants,' p. 205), has been confirmed by the observations on circumnutation since given in 'The Power of Movement in Plants.'
ERRATA.
On pp. 28, 32, 40, 53, statements are made with reference to the supposed acceleration of the revolving movement towards the light. It appears from the observations given in 'The Power of Movement in Plants,' p. 451, that these conclusions were drawn from insufficient observations, and are erroneous.
1. An English translation of the 'Lehrbuch der Botanik' by Professor Sachs, has recently (1875), appeared under the title of 'Text-Book of Botany,' and this is a great boon to all lovers of natural science in England.
