23 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
The Movements of Plants. 
In an article last month (December), we no¬ 
ticed the interesting observations made by Mr. 
Darwin on the manner in which plants climb. 
It was stated, in reference to those, climbers 
which twine around a support, that the free up¬ 
per portion of a limb or shoot, had a sponta¬ 
neous motion, and kept sweeping in a circle or 
ellipse in search of some object around which 
to twine. But plants climb in other ways than 
by twining their stems around a support, and 
Mr. Darwin’s observations upon these are even 
more interesting than those already alluded to. 
As our space will only allow of .the briefest ref¬ 
erence to the matter, we select a point here and 
there from his account. Many plants cling by 
means of their leaf stalks or petioles; these, 
at a certain stage of their development, are very 
sensitive, and bend when slightly rubbed or 
Fig. 1.— CLIMBING SOLANUIL 
subjected to a slight continuous pressure, such 
as that of a loop of soft thread, weighing only 
'1,6 of a grain. The upper parts of the shoots 
of these plants also revolve, after the manner 
of twiners; this motion brings the petiole in 
contact with some object, it is stimulated to 
bend, and by curving around the object thus 
touched, the plant is held in place. After the 
petiole has remained thus clasped for a few 
days, it loses its ability to unbend, and becomes 
rigid, and usually much increased in size, and 
strengthened by becoming more woody. Among 
the plants in which these phenomena may be 
observed the following are common: 
Clematis, of different species; Tropai~ 
olum, or Nastui’tium, of the various 
climbing species, including the Cana¬ 
ry-bird flower, figured on page 17; 
Maurandia; Solaiium jasminoides, 
figured last month on page 380. The 
last named is very slow in its move¬ 
ments, but when the petioles have 
once clasped, they increase much in 
size, often becoming as large as the 
stem from which they spring, and their texture 
becomes woody to a remarkable degree. Fig, 
1, shows a petiole of the Solanum jasminoides, 
after it has clasped a stick, and become woody. 
Still more interesting are the observations on 
those plants which' have tendrils—organs us6d 
exclusively for climbing. Plants thus provided 
are found in widely separated natural families, 
and the phenomena they present vary; in some, 
the upper portion of the stem revolves together 
with the tendrils, and in others the tendrils 
alone revolve, and again there is no revolving 
motion in either stem or‘tendril. Tendrils are 
long thread-like organs, usually branched, with 
Fig. '2.— TENDRIL. 
their extremities more or less curved to form a 
hook. The sensitiveness, above spoken of as 
belouging to climbing leaf stalks, is highly de¬ 
veloped in some tendrils, which bya very slight 
rub soon bend, or even coil themselves into a 
spiral. After the end of a tendril is brought by 
the revolving motion in contact with some suit¬ 
able support, it clasps firmly, and taking two 
or three turns around it holds fast. Then 
occurs a most remarkable spiral contraction, 
the portion of the tendril between the plant and 
the object to which its extremity is attached, 
coils itself after the manner of’ a spiral spring. 
This has the effect, not only of drawing the 
plant nearer to the support, but of diminishing 
the chances of its being torn away by the winds; 
each tendril being elastic, it enables 
the plant, as the sailor would say, 
to “ ease up ” in a violent gale. It 
is a curious fact that each tendril 
which has coiled after the ex¬ 
tremity has become fixed, has one 
part of it twisted in one direction 
and another part in the opposite di¬ 
rection, as is shown in figure 2. 
This arrangement prevents the • tendril from 
being weakened by twisting upon its axis, 
the twist in one direction being compensat¬ 
ed by.that in the other.—Our common Vir¬ 
ginia Creeper has a peculiar mode of attach¬ 
ing itself which is worthy of notice, as it shows 
how wonderfully this plant is adapted to climb¬ 
ing up a flat surface. The young tendril of the 
plant is sho-wn in fig. 3. "When it meets with a 
flat surface, all the branches of the tendril turn 
toward it and bring their hookfed tips laterally 
in contact ivitli it, the branches at the same 
time spreading widely apart. In about two 
days after the tendril has thus arranged itself, 
little disks or cushions begin to form at the 
tips, as in fig. 4; these, as they grow, fit closely 
contracting spirally become, highly elastic and 
well, calculated to hold the great weight that we 
kiiow they sustain. But we have not room for 
more examples from this memoir so full of in¬ 
teresting facts. "We trust enough have been 
given to show the admirable arrangements with 
which some plants.are endowed, to enable them 
to lift themselves to the light and air, and to 
suggest to our readers some instructive observa¬ 
tions which they can repeat for themselves upon 
our common climbing plants. Of those-which 
twine, the Morning Glory, Bean, and Hop are 
common; the present article enumerates some 
of the leaf climbers, while the squash family, 
grape, etc., give common examples of tendrils. 
-- 
Vines, Eoses etc., in Pots, versus “Broad 
Borders.” 
A discussion lias arisen among cultivators as 
to the best method of growing vines. 'While 
some claim that the best plants are produced by 
pot culture, others discard pots altogether, and 
let the roots have abundant room. In August 
of last year we set forth the advantages claim¬ 
ed by those who adopt the border system, and 
we now allow the other side to be presented 
by one who signs himself “A Nurseryman.” 
Fig. 3.— VIRGINIA CREEPER. 
to any minute inequalities of the surface upon 
which they may be, and it is very probable that 
they exude a small amount of resinous cement 
which helps render the attachment more com¬ 
plete. Nor is this the only change that takes 
place; those branches of the tendril that fail to 
attach themselves, wither and drop off, while 
the attached ones acquire great strength and by 
Fig. 4. —VIRGINIA CREEPER. 
We may remark that the article is from an ex' 
perienced cultivator, and one who is not es¬ 
pecially devoted to grape growing. 
“ I am and ever have been an advocate of pot 
culture, not only for vines but for all plants that 
can be conveniently grown in pots, to ensure 
exactly' what the advocates of the ‘ broad 
borders’ decry, a cramped condition of the 
roots, or, to put it more fairly, a confined condi¬ 
tion of the roots, and it is this condition that I 
claim as advantageous over viues grown in 
frames or in the borders of green-houses, where 
they are huddled together, 'unstaked, three or 
four inches apart. I care not with what care 
they may be lifted, mutilation of the dibres to a 
great extent must take place, and the growth 
after planting must in consequence be diminish¬ 
ed, while in the pot grown vine you have well 
ripened wood and roots, and every fibre intact. 
Let any one try a corresponding number of • 
each, of one year old plants of Delaware for , 
example, grown by the rival modes and assuredly 
he will give the ‘ broad border’ plants a wide 
berth in the future. 
“What would we think of any intelligent 
gardener planting a grapery fi-om vines grown 
in broad -borders ? The practice of a century 
has demonstrated beyond a- cavil, that vines 
grown from eyes, (if not planted out to remain, 
the season they are rooted,) do infinitely better 
to be grown in pots, than to be planted out in 
‘ broad’ or in any other border. 
