FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



terminate the tendrils without their having come 

 into contact with any object.^ 



The Virginia creeper {Ampelopsis Jicderacea) has 

 also branched tendrils five or six inches in length. 

 The tips of the branches are at first curved, and 

 vv'hen they come in contact with a wall, or other flat 



F'S- 31- — Tendrils of Vir- 

 ginia creeper, with discs at- 

 tached. 



/^/i,''- 3-- — Tendrils of 

 Virginia creeper, discs 

 not attached. 



surface, the hooks arc brought into apposition to it. 

 In the course of two days after a tendril has arranged 

 its tips so that they touch and press on the surface, 

 the curvatures swell, become bright red, and form little 

 discs or cushions on the under side. In one case 

 the tips were swollen in 38 hours, and in another 4S 

 hours, and in an additional 24 hours were firml}* 



' Muller, " Journal of Linna^an Society," ix., p. 348. 



