2IO 



FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



the light. Those of the pea, and some others, seem 

 to be insensible to its influence. 



The mode by which tendrils clasp and attach them- 

 selves to their supports is variable, even in the same 

 genus. In some, they twine spirally, like a cork- 

 screw ; in others they grasp a projection in a manner 

 resembling the foot of a bird ; in others, again, thc\' 

 attach themselves by hooks or grapnels ; and in 

 others, the sharp 

 points arc in- 

 serted in cracks 

 and fissures, or 

 minute holes, al- 

 though this latter 

 in some cases, 

 seems to be only 

 a temporary ex- 

 pedient. The most 

 elaborate mode of 

 attachment is one in which the tips of the tendrils 

 undergo special modification, and to this kind we 

 must advert more in detail. 



This curious but interesting adaptation of the ten- 

 drils of a plant, in order the better to fulfil its function 

 of climbing, is related of an exotic trumpet-flower 

 {Bignonia caprcolatd). The tendrils are branched, 

 having about five branches, each of which is divided 

 again at the apex, with each point blunt but dis- 



Fig. 30. — Hooked tendril, like foot of a 

 bird, from Bignonia Tijccdiana. Tip of 

 hook magnified (<•?). 



