86 THE WORK OF PLANTS 
nearly straight and quite limp. We know this is 
because the salt “pulls” water out of the cells, just as 

Fic. 122. Strip from dandelion stem 
made to imitate a plant tendril. 
it does in the beet slice. 
Now place the strips from 
the salt water back into 
fresh water. They become 
firm and coil up again. 
How to imitate the coiling 
of a tendril. Cut out care- 
fully a narrow strip from 
a long dandelion stem. 
Fasten to a piece of soft 
wood, with the ends close 
together, as shown in Fig. 
122. Now place it in fresh 
water and watch it coil. 
Part of it coils one way and 
part another way, just as a tendril does after the free 
end has caught hold of some place for support. 
