THE ASSERTIVE PLANT 



835 



A SPECIES OF HYACINTH ^X^HICH DROOPS ITS LANCELIKE LEAVES OVER THE SURROUNDING 

 SOIL AND SO DISCOURAGES OTHER PLANTS. 



fact that if any of the sections should 

 become detached, these enter upon the 

 scene as new individuals, quite capable 

 of representing the race on their own 

 account. A large number of perennials 

 adopt this mode of increase in addition 

 to seed-bearing, and these are to be 

 numbered among the most successful of 

 plants. 



There can be no doubt that the large 

 number of species which have resorted to 

 chmbing methods have been induced to 

 do so by the ever pressing need for room. 

 That this enterprise has not been in vain 

 is a commonplace fact of the country- 

 side, for it is the Brambles, the Honey- 

 suckles, and the Bryonies which have 

 long since captuied the hedges for their 

 very own. Right down in the darkness 

 at the centre of the hedge we may find 

 the rooting-place of these plants, in 

 situations where nothing but a subject 

 that could grow yards up towards the 

 hght would ])ossibly be able to exist. 



The different methods adopted by the 

 chmbing plants to get up in the world 



are as varied as they are ingenious. 

 Perhaps the most common is that to be 

 seen in the case of the twining species, 

 which by means of their stems twist 

 themselves round a support. Some of 

 these plants, such as the Hop, invariably 

 turn from left to right ; whilst others, 

 of which the Bean is a typical example, 

 travel in an opposite direction. The 

 constancy with which each species adheres 

 to its particular habit of growth is very 

 remarkable ; no coercion will induce the 

 stem to alter its natural course. 



A very interesting experiment may be 

 conducted with a common French Bean 

 plant to illustrate the climbing methods 

 of the species. A young seedling should 

 be secured which has just de\'eloped its 

 second pair of leaves. At tliis stage the 

 short stem is very nearly upright, but 

 as it develops it becomes too slender to 

 support itself. Now comes into operation 

 that curious tendency on the part of 

 I limbing plants called circumnutation. 

 This consists in a ceaseless search for 

 a support ; round and round the stem 



