CHAPTER XXV 

 ON CLIMBING PLANTS 



Robin-run-the-Hedge — Bramble bushes — Climbing roses — Spiny, wiry- 

 stems of smilax — The weak young stem of a liane — The way in which 

 stems revolve — The hop and its Kttle harpoons — A climbing palm 

 — Rapidity of turners — The effect of American life on them — Living 

 bridges — R<^>e bridges in India — The common sUtchwort — Tendrils — 

 Their behaviour when stroked or tickled — Their sensibility — Their 

 grasping power — The quickness with which they curve and their sense 

 of weight — Charles Darwin— Reasonableness of plants — Corkscrew 

 spirals — The pads of the Virginian Creeper — The ivy — Does it do 

 harm ? — Embracing roots — Tree ivy. 



THERE are many plants which depend upon and cling 

 to other more sturdy kinds, and which would be quite 

 unable to live upon the earth at all if they had not 

 developed the most beautiful methods of doing so. 



In autumn, as soon as the leaves of the Hawthorn have 

 fallen off, one is sure to find upon the hedges the common 

 Robin-run-the-Hedge (Goosegrass, Cleavers, or Sticky Willie, 

 for it is known by all these nicknames as well as by its 

 proper name, Galium aparhie). 



Its stem is exceedingly weak, but it will be found sometimes 

 to be six or seven feet long. It does not support itself, but 

 is resting amongst and entangled in the outer twigs of the 

 hedge in such a manner that it cannot be blown away by the 

 wind or indeed picked out without its being broken. The 

 young stems grow upright and are vigorous at first, but soon 



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