106 TENDRIL-BEARERS. Cuap. III. 
and then seize their own lower branches or the main 
stem. The stick is thus firmly, but not neatly, 
grasped. What the tendrils are really adapted for, 
appears to be such objects as the thin culms of certain 
Frasses, or the long flexible bristles of a brush, or thin 
rigid leaves such as those of the Asparagus, all of 
which they seize in an admirable manner. This is 
due to the extremities of the branches close to the 
little hooks being extremely sensitive to a touch 
from the thinnest object, which they consequently 
curl round and clasp. When a small brush, for 
instance, was placed near a tendril, the tips of each 
sub-branch seized one, two, or three of the bristles; 
and then the spiral contraction of the several branches 
brought all these little parcels close together, so that 
thirty or forty bristles were drawn into a single bundle, 
which afforded an excellent support. . 
PoLEMONIACEE. — Cobea scandens— This is an 
excellently constructed climber. The tendrils on a 
fine plant were eleven inches long, with the petiole 
bearing two pairs of leaflets, only two and a half 
inches in length. They revolve more rapidly and 
vigorously than those of any other tendril-bearer 
observed by me, with the exception of one kind of 
Passiflora. Three large, nearly circular sweeps, di- 
rected against the sun were completed, each in 1 hr. 
15 m.; and two other circles in 1 hr. 20 m. and 1 hr. 
23 m. Sometimes a tendril travels in a much inclined 
position, and sometimes nearly upright. The lower part 
moves but little and the petiole not at all; nor do 
