IVY IN THE COPSE. 



some upright bank or trunk, up which it 

 climbs, adhering to its host by the aid of 

 its innumerable short root-like excrescences. 

 Here its foliage assumes still the same type 

 as on the ground, but is not quite so closely 

 appressed to the support, nor yet so sharply 

 angular. The mode of the mosaic, too, has 

 altered a little to suit the altered circum- 

 stances ; the leaves now stand out more 

 freely from the stem, yet in such a way 

 as not to interfere with or overshadow 

 each other. By-and-by, however, the ivy, 

 as it grows, reaches the top of the bank, 

 or some convenient flowering place on the 

 friendly trunk ; and then it begins to send up 

 quite different blossoming branches. These 

 rise straight into the air, without support 

 on any side ; unlike the creeping stems, 

 they are stout enough and strong enough 

 to stand alone to bear their own weight 

 and that of the prospective flowers and 

 berries. Besides, they wish to be seen 

 from all sides at once, so as to attract from 



93 



