Botany; Geotropism; Plants -- Irritability and movements
apparently shows that the inflection of the tentacles from the stimulus
of absorbed animal matter (and no doubt from that of contact with any
object) is not due to modified circumnutation.
(15.) Dionoea muscipula (Droseraceae).—It should be premised that the
leaves at an early stage of their development have the two lobes
pressed closely together. These are at first directed back towards the
centre of the plant; but they gradually rise up and soon stand at right
angles to the petiole, and ultimately in nearly a straight line with
it. A young leaf, which with the
petiole was only 1.2 inch in length, had a filament fixed externally
along the midrib of the still closed lobes, which projected at right
angles to the petiole. In the evening this leaf completed an ellipse in
the course of 2 h. On the following day (Sept. 25th) its movements were
traced during 22 h.; and we see in Fig. 106 that it moved in the same
general direction, due to the straightening of the leaf, but in an
extremely zigzag line. This line represents several drawn-out or
modified ellipses. There can therefore be no doubt that this young leaf
circumnutated.
Fig. 106. Dionaea muscipula: circumnutation of a young and expanding
leaf, traced on a horizontal glass in darkness, from noon Sept. 24th to
10 A.M. 25th. Apex of leaf 13½ inches from the glass, so tracing
considerably magnified.
A rather old, horizontally extended leaf, with a filament attached
along the under side of the midrib, was next observed during 7 h. It
hardly moved, but when one of its sensitive hairs was touched, the
blades closed, though not very quickly. A new dot was now made on the
glass, but in the course of 14 h. 20 m. there was hardly any change in
the position of the filament. We may therefore infer that an old and
only moderately sensitive leaf does not circumnutate plainly; but we
shall soon see that it by no means follows that such a leaf is
absolutely motionless. We may further infer that the stimulus from a
touch does not re-excite plain circumnutation.
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