Climbing Plants 233 
what suggestive of such characters, for they ex- 
pend much vital energy in searching for something 
to support them, and in holding fast to the sup- 
port when it is found. The ‘‘movements and 
habits of climbing plants’’ have been carefully 
studied by Darwin, whose book on the subject is 
the source of most of the facts here and now set 
forth. He divides climbing plants into four classes. 
Those of the first class twine spirally around a 
support, and have no other spontaneous move- 
ments. To this category beans and hops belong. 
Vines of the second class ascend by means of 
special organs. Sometimes, as is the case with 
the clematis, the leaf-stalks do double duty, and 
not only uphold the leaves, but also embrace any 
slender thing within reach. And sometimes the 
plant bears tendrils, which reach out like the feelers 
of an octopus, seeking what they may clasp and 
hold. By this method sweet-peas get on in the 
world. But no sharp line of distinction can be 
drawn between ‘‘leaf-climbers’’ and ‘‘ tendril-bear- 
ers.’” They are closely connected, and are classi- 
fied together. 
Vines of the third class scramble upward by 
means of hooks, and this is the way’ some roses 
clamber. Many of these hook-climbers are natives 
