Botany; Geotropism; Plants -- Irritability and movements
Raphanus sativus.—In the middle of the day the blades of the cotyledons
of 10 seedlings stood at right angles to their hypocotyls, with their
petioles a little divergent; at night the blades stood vertically, with
their bases in contact and with their petioles parallel. Next morning,
at 6.45 A.M., whilst it was still dark, the blades were horizontal. On
the following night they were much raised, but hardly stood
sufficiently vertical to be said to be asleep, and so it was in a still
less degree on the third night. Therefore the cotyledons of this plant
(kept in the greenhouse) go to sleep for even a shorter time than those
of the cabbage. Similar observations were made, but only during a
single day and night, on 13 other seedlings likewise raised in the
greenhouse, with the same result.
The petioles of the cotyledons of 11 young seedlings of Sinapis nigra
were slightly divergent at noon, and the blades stood at right angles
to the hypocotyls; at night the petioles were in close contact, and the
blades considerably raised, with their bases in contact, but only a few
stood sufficiently upright to be called asleep. On the following
morning,
the petioles diverged before it was light. The hypocotyl is slightly
sensitive, so that if rubbed with a needle it bends towards the rubbed
side. In the case of Lepidium sativum, the petioles of the cotyledons
of young seedlings diverge during the day and converge so as to touch
each other during the night, by which means the bases of the tripartite
blades are brought into contact; but the blades are so little raised
that they cannot be said to sleep. The cotyledons of several other
cruciferous plants were observed, but they did not rise sufficiently
during the night to be said to sleep.
Githago segetum (Caryophylleae).—On the first day after the cotyledons
had burst through the seed-coats, they stood at noon at an angle of 75°
above the horizon; at night they moved upwards, each through an angle
of 15° so as to stand quite vertical and in contact with one another.
On the second day they stood at noon at 59° above the horizon, and
again at night were completely closed, each having risen 31°. On the
fourth day the cotyledons did not quite close at night. The first and
succeeding pairs of young true leaves behaved in exactly the same
manner. We think that the movement in this case may be called
nyctitropic, though the angle passed through was small. The cotyledons
are very sensitive to light and will not expand if exposed to an
extremely dim one.
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