118 : TENDRIL-BEARERS. Cuap. III. 
night and rises during the day, moving, also, during 
the day ia a crooked course to the west. The tip of 
the tendril is highly sensitive on the lower surface ; 
and one which was just touched with a twig became 
perceptibly curved in 8 m., and another in 5 m.; the 
upper surface is not at all sensitive; the sides are 
moderately sensitive, so that two branches which were 
rubbed on their inner sides converged and crossed each 
other. The petiole of the leaf and the lower parts of 
the tendril, halfway between the upper leaflet and the 
lowest branch, are not sensitive. A tendril after curling 
from a touch became straight again in about 6 hrs., and 
was ready to re-act ; but one that had been so roughly 
rubbed as to have coiled into a helix did not become 
perfectly straight until after 13 hrs. The tendrils re- 
tain their sensibility to an unusually late age ; for one 
borne by a leaf with five or six fully developed leaves 
above, was still active. If a tendril catches nothing, 
after a considerable interval of time the tips of the 
branches curl a little inwards; but if it clasps some 
object, the whole contracts spirally. 
SMILACEH.—Smilaw aspera, var. maculata.—Aug. 
St.-Hilaire* considers that the tendrils, which rise in 
pairs from the petiole, are modified lateral leaflets ; 
but Mobl (p. 41) ranks them as modified stipules. 
These tendrils are from 13 to 13 inches in length, are 
thin, and have slightly curved, pointed extremities. 
They diverge a little from each other, and stand at 
first nearly upright. When lightly rubbed on either 
* ‘Lecons de Botanique,’ &c., 1841, p. 170. 
