MUKD CEOP of rNIFOEM AGE. SI 



tween the climbing plants themselves^, considered as an integral por- 

 tion of the forest crop, and the trees on which they cUmb. 



Plants with a climbing habit rise up into and spread over the 

 crowns of their supports either (i) by means of adventitious roots, 

 which enter into, the very smallest crevices in the bark, and attach 

 themselves firmly thereto!, e-, ff., ivy, Ficus scandens, &c. ; or (ii) by 

 means of tendrils, which grasp by merely curHng up roimd any 

 sufficiently thin body with which they come into contact, e -g., the 

 whole genus Vitis, Bauhinia Vahlii, many rattans, &c. ; or (iii) by 

 means of tendrils which, when uaaMe to meet a plant part sufficiently 

 thin to be grasped by curling up round it, may nevertheless often 

 fix themselves to. any, even moderately, rough sur&ce with the 

 help of their free extremity, which at once swells up into, a sucker- 

 like disc that grows into and coBa$)letely fills up the minutest cre- 

 vices and sinuosities, and becomes adherent thereto, after the 

 manner of adventitious roots, e.g., the vines ; or (iv) by means 

 of hooked spines, e. g., many rattans, Capparis horrida, &c. ; or 

 (v) by twining round the stems and branches of their supports, 

 at first generally in a loose coil, and then with a tight grasp, e.g^. 

 Millettia auriculata,, Spatholobus Roxhurghii, Bauhinia Vahlii^ 

 Butea superha, the vines, Celastrus senegalensis, Comivetum decan- 

 drum and a host of other climbers; or (vi). and lastly,by interlacing 

 branches with, or simply resting up against or on the stems and, 

 branches of, their suj^orts, e.g., Dalhergia volubilis, Acacia pennata, 

 Cudrania javanensis, &c. Prom- the few examples just given it 

 will be observed that the same cHmber may employ more- than one 

 mode of ascension. Thus thfr vines twine as well as possess tendrils^ 

 which themselves can grasp both by curHng up. and by attaching 

 themselves Hke adventitious aerial roots; Bauhinia Vahlii not only 

 has tendrils, which after the disarticulation of the curled-up portion, 

 are reduced to mere hooks, but also twines, and scrambles up; the 

 rattans twine and also possess tendrils, and moreover^ to a certain 

 extent, scramble up, in which mode of ascension they are. assisted 

 by their numerous prickles; the chmbing figs twine as well as creep 

 up by means of adventitious roots; and so on. 



Whichever the mode of ascension followed, the result is always 

 the invasion and overspreading of the crowns of the supports by 

 the dense foHage of the climber. The least harm done is impeded 

 growth and a sickly condition of the support, Moreover, when 

 the climber ascends by twining, the stems' and branches of the sup- 

 ports get constricted, the increasing pressure on the bark, following 

 the entire circumference of the stem, prevents the free vertical 



