THE MOVEMENTS AND HABITS OF CLIMBING PLANTS




PREFACE



This Essay first appeared in the ninth volume of the 'Journal of the
Linnean Society,' published in 1865. It is here reproduced in a
corrected and, I hope, clearer form, with some additional facts. The
illustrations were drawn by my son, George Darwin. Fritz Muller,
after the publication of my paper, sent to the Linnean Society
(Journal, vol. ix., p. 344) some interesting observations on the
climbing plants of South Brazil, to which I shall frequently refer.
Recently two important memoirs, chiefly on the difference in growth
between the upper and lower sides of tendrils, and on the mechanism
of the movements of twining-plants, by Dr. Hugo de Vries, have
appeared in the 'Arbeiten des Botanischen Instituts in Wurzburg,'
Heft. iii., 1873. These memoirs ought to be carefully studied by
every one interested in the subject, as I can here give only
references to the more important points. This excellent observer, as
well as Professor Sachs, {1} attributes all the movements of tendrils
to rapid growth along one side; but, from reasons assigned towards
the close of my fourth chapter, I cannot persuade myself that this
holds good with respect to those due to a touch. In order that the
reader may know what points have interested me most, I may call his
attention to certain tendril-bearing plants; for instance, Bignonia
capreolata, Cobaea, Echinocystis, and Hanburya, which display as