Ecological Groups of Stems 



155 



sequoia in height. Really to appreciate the size of these trees 

 you should pace off a distance equal to the diameter of the 

 trunk and calculate how many times the height of your school 

 building a giant sequoia is. Then try to imagine how one 

 of the Big Trees would look if it stood in your school yard. 





Stems of climbing plants. 



Among mesophytes are 

 many vines with exceed- 

 ingly long, slender stems. 

 The Virginia creeper, wild 

 cucumber, and grape have 

 stems from 50 to 300 feet 

 in length. These long stems 

 enable them to spread their 

 leaves over the tops of large 

 trees. Climbers may attach 

 themselves to their support 



Fig. 87. Tendrils of wild cucumber. Note ^Y twiuiug about it by tCU- 

 thc coiling of the tendril by which the plant is drils, Or by SUpportivC rOOtS. 

 drawn nearer the support, and the reversal of rr> j -i • t j 

 the spiral in difTerent parts of the tendril. Tcudrils are SpCCiallZCd Or- 

 is there always a reversal in coiled tendrils? gaUS developed in plaCC of 



