Botany; Geotropism; Plants -- Irritability and movements
Many long pins were next driven rather close together into the sand, so
as to form a crowd in front of the same two thin lateral branches; but
these easily wound their way through the crowd. A thick stolon was much
delayed in its passage; at one place it was forced to turn at right
angles to its former course; at another place it could not pass through
the pins, and the hinder part became bowed; it then curved upwards and
passed through an opening between the upper part of some pins which
happened to diverge; it then descended and finally emerged through the
crowd. This stolon was rendered permanently sinuous to a slight degree,
and was thicker where sinuous than elsewhere, apparently from its
longitudinal growth having been checked.
Cotyledon umbilicus (Crassulaceæ).—A plant growing in a pan
of damp moss had emitted 2 stolons, 22 and 20 inches in length. One of
these was supported, so that a length of 4½ inches projected in a
straight and horizontal line, and the movement of the apex was traced.
The first dot was made at 9.10 A.M.; the terminal portion soon began to
bend downwards and continued to do so until noon. Therefore a straight
line, very nearly as long as the whole figure here given (Fig. 89), was
first traced on the glass; but the upper part of this line has not been
copied in the diagram. The curvature occurred in the middle
of the penultimate internode; and its chief seat was at the distance of
1 1/4 inch from the apex; it appeared due to the weight of the terminal
portion, acting on the more flexible part of the internode, and not to
geotropism. The apex after thus sinking down from 9.10 A.M. to noon,
moved a little to the left; it then rose up and circumnutated in a
nearly vertical plane until 10.35 P.M. On the following day (26th) it
was observed from 6.40 A.M. to 5.20 P.M., and within this time it moved
twice up and twice down. On the morning of the 27th the apex stood as
high as it did at 11.30 A.M. on the 25th. Nor did it sink down during
the 28th, but continued to circumnutate about the same place.
Fig. 89. Cotyledon umbilicus: circumnutation of stolon, traced from
11.15 A.M. Aug. 25th to 11 A.M. 27th. Plant illuminated from above. The
terminal internode was .25 inch in length, the penultimate 2.25 and the
third 3.0 inches in length. Apex of stolon stood at a distance of 5.75
inches from the vertical glass; but it was not possible to ascertain
how much the tracing was magnified, as it was not known how great a
length of the internode circumnutated.
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