94 Thorny and Climbing Plants. (A walk) 



poison. If you seize a leaf firmly between your finger 

 and thumb you crush the hairs and they will not hurt 

 you. If, however, you let them touch your hand gently 

 they will pierce the outer skin and will leave a tiny 

 drop of poison behind. Then your hand smarts and 

 you say you have been stung. 



Another leaf that you have probably learnt to handle 

 carefully is that of the holly tree. The surface of these 

 leaves is smooth enough, but a horny thread runs along 

 their edge and forms a series of sharp spines which 

 would soon send away any marauding deer or other 

 animal in search of a meal. 



Perhaps the commonest type of prickly plant is that 

 of the wild rose and bramble. Look at a twig of wild 

 rose and see how plentifully it is furnished with thorns 

 curved thorns as sharp and hooked as a cat's claws, 

 which when they get caught in anything are not easily 

 got rid of. Cut one of the twigs oif close to the ground, 

 and try to pull it out by its lower end. You cannot do 

 it, because the thorns catch in the other branches. If 

 you take hold of the other end and pull it upwards it 

 will come easily enough. Notice that the thorns do 

 not seem to be arranged in any special order, but are 

 scattered about quite irregularly on the twig. Try to 

 pick off one of the larger ones, using your fingers or 

 a penknife if you have one. It comes off quite easily, 

 leaving a mark on the outside of the stem. Take 

 several of these thorns off, then peel the skin from the 

 twig. There is no mark at all on the wood of the stem 

 to show where they grew. This tells us that they were 

 only thickenings in the skin, and were not part of the 

 stem itself. 



Now take a twig from the next hawthorn bush you 



