og Newcomlif. Sensitive Lite of Asparagus plumosua. 



B. Behavior of Seedlings. 



The fact that the normal mature aerial shoots of the seedlings 

 differ in their appearance from those growing from rhizomes has 

 already been pointed out. This difference consists in the 1)08111011 

 of needles and branches in tbe 2 kinds of shoots, the needles and 

 all other branches on the shoots from rhizomes being flattened 

 into a Single horizontal plane, while the needles on seedling shoots 

 spread out in many directions, and the branches bearing the needles 

 are not all brot into a horizontal plane. 



Not less striking than the diff'erence noted above, is the 

 difference between the behavior of seedlings and other shoots when 

 grown in the dark. As already recordcd, the shoots from rhizomes, 

 if caused to form in the dark produce no branches and do not 

 develop a definitive diageotropism, tho they do make transitory 

 plagiogeotropic curves. The shoots of seedlings raised in the dark 

 produce both branches and diageotropic apices. 



Several small pots were plantet! wirb Asparagibs seeds in the 

 month of July. The shoots began appearing above ground after 

 26 days. As these shoots grew in hight they showed but little 

 nutation tili they were 8 to 10 cm high, about 10 days after 

 appeaiing above ground. There were 14 of these seedlings growing 

 in the dark They all began declining but 5° to 10° the first day 

 that declination began, the angle being 3 to 6 mm from the apex. 

 For 2 or 3 days the tips nutated up and down, changing the plane 

 of curvature, but not showing circumnutation. Soon the angle of 

 curvature was seen to be 15 to 20 mm back from the tip while 

 the declination went to 15° to 30°. After the first appearance of 

 such a declination as this. the most of the shoots diel not erect 

 again and diel not change the plane of curvature. The final planes 

 of curvature were in about as many directions as there were shoots. 

 Ten days to 2 weeks after the shoots began to decline at the tips, 

 they had attained their final position. Six of the 14 had declined 

 90°, six were 60° to 80° below the vertical, one was 45°. and 

 the other 30° from the vertical. The length of the declined por- 

 tion varied from 7.5 cm to 2 cm. 



These plagiotropic shoots bore branches also; only one of the 

 14 was without branches. The branches numbered from 2 to 6 on 

 a shoot and varied in length from 3 mm to 45 mm. Each node 

 of the plagiotropic part of the main axis, and each node of an 

 unfolded branch bore needles; the apices of main and lateral axes 

 also showed the needles diverging. The number of needles in a 

 Cluster was smaller than on a normal «shoot, and the size of the 

 needles was about one-half the normal. The smaller number in a 

 Cluster is probably due to the failure of many of the needles to 

 elongate, as many short ones could be seen with a lens. The 

 needles showed 110 control by gravitation in the positions they took, 

 but the branches of lower order in general took the horizontal 

 position ; yet, a few branches on these seedlings, as already stated 

 for seedlings grown in the light, took positions between the vertical 

 and horizontal. 



