52 FIRST STUDIES IF PLANT LIFE 



(2) How do the clematis and the nasturtium climb ? 



(3) How do the following plants climb ? Dolichos, any climbing 

 rose, honeysuckle, grape vine, hop, passion-flower, sweet pea. 

 native sarsaparilla. 



(4) Cut a shoot from a climber in full growth, and place it in a 

 vessel of water. Note the direction in which the tip points, and, 

 in an hour's time note the different direction. Note how the 

 passion-flower tendril turns at the lightest touch. 



(5) Letters of the alphabet cut in the wood of a tree are some- 

 times found buried deep in the trunk. Explain. 



(6) Try to find a climber whose stem is buried in whole or in 

 part in the tree that supports it. Why is it that in the groove 

 caused by a woody spiral climber the upper lip always bulges out 

 more than the lower lip ? 



(7) Look for an ivy shoot running along the ground and rooting. 

 From what points in the stem do the roots spring? Compare 

 the air-roots of the same plant. 



(8) One often sees a rose of one kind throwing up suckers of 

 another kind from the root. Explain. 



(9) The cords attaching a tree to a stake should be examined 

 occasionally. Why? 



(10) One sometimes sees a gum tree branch dying back in the 

 part above a mistletoe bush. Can you explain this ? 



(11) Name any trees of your district on which the mistletoe 

 may be found. 



(12) An ivy plant may injure a tree in several ways. Can you 

 name any ? 



(13) Note how a vine or pea tendril coils into a spiral and (after 

 a few days) draws the plant nearer to its support. 



(14) Watch the ways of a periwinkle plant, and tell what change 

 you would need to make in it to turn it into a climbing plant. 



Composition Exercise. — Tell the story of how an ivy-plant 

 rose in the world without the help of a thick stem. 



Drawing Exercise. — Draw (a) grape vine branch with tendril ; 

 (b) passion flower branch with tendril. 



