97. =A Runner=, of which the Strawberry presents the most familiar and characteristic example, is a long and slender, tendril-like stolon, or branch from next the ground, destitute of conspicuous leaves. Each runner of the Strawberry, after having grown to its full length, strikes root from the tip, which fixes it to the ground, then forms a bud there, which develops into a tuft of leaves, and so gives rise to a new plant, which sends out new runners to act in the same way. In this manner a single Strawberry plant will spread over a large space, or produce a great number of plants, in the course of the summer, all connected at first by the slender runners; but these die in the following winter, if not before, and leave the plants as so many separate individuals. 98. =Tendrils= are branches of a very slender sort, like runners, not destined like them for propagation, and therefore always destitute of buds or leaves, being intended only for climbing. Simple tendrils are such as those of Passion-flowers (Fig. 92). Compound or branching tendrils are borne by the Cucumber and Pumpkin, by the Grape-Vine, Virginia Creeper, etc. [Illustration: Fig. 92. A small Passion-flower (_Passiflora sicyoides_), showing the tendrils.] 99. A tendril commonly grows straight and outstretched until it reaches some neighboring support, such as a stem, when its apex hooks around it to secure a hold; then the whole tendril shortens itself by coiling up spirally, and so draws the shoot of the growing plant nearer to the supporting object. But the tendrils of the Virginia Creeper (Ampelopsis, Fig. 93), as also the shorter ones of the Japanese species, effect the object differently, namely, by expanding the tips of the tendrils into a flat disk, with an adhesive face. This is applied to the supporting object, and it adheres firmly; then a shortening of the tendril and its branches by coiling brings up the growing shoot close to the support. This is an adaptation for climbing mural rocks or walls, or the trunks of trees, to which ordinary tendrils are unable to cling. The Ivy and Poison Ivy attain the same result by means of aerial rootlets (78). [Illustration: Fig. 93. Piece of the stem of Virginia Creeper, bearing a leaf and a tendril. 94. Tips of a tendril, about the natural size, showing the disks by which they hold fast to walls, etc.] 100. Some tendrils are leaves or parts of leaves, as those of the Pea (Fig. 35). The nature of the tendril is known by its position. A tendril from the axil of a leaf, like that of Passion-flowers (Fig. 92) is of course a stem, i. e. a branch. So is one which terminates a stem, as in the Grape-Vine.