Botany; Geotropism; Plants -- Irritability and movements
twisting of the whole length of the petiole, as could be seen by the
curved line of its upper concave surface. At the same time the true
leaf (F) rises up, so as to stand vertically, or it even passes the
vertical and is inclined a little inwards. It also twists a little, by
which means the upper surface of its blade fronts, and almost comes
into contact with, the upper surface of the twisted
left cotyledon. This seems to be the object gained by these singular
movements. Altogether 20 seedlings were examined on successive nights,
and in 19 of them it was the left cotyledon alone which became twisted,
with the true leaf always so twisted that its upper surface approached
closely and fronted that of the left cotyledon. In only one instance
was the right cotyledon twisted, with the true leaf twisted towards it;
but this seedling was in an abnormal condition, as the left cotyledon
did not rise up properly at night. This whole case is remarkable, as
with the cotyledons of no other plant have we seen any nocturnal
movement except vertically upwards or downwards. It is the more
remarkable, because we shall meet with an analogous case in the leaves
of the allied genus Melilotus, in which the terminal leaflet rotates at
night so as to present one edge to the zenith and at the same time
bends to one side, so that its upper surface comes into contact with
that of one of the two now vertical lateral leaflets.
Fig. 125. Trifolium strictum: diurnal and nocturnal positions of the
two cotyledons and of the first leaf. I. Seedling viewed obliquely from
above, during the day: Rc, right cotyledon; Lc, left cotyledon; F,
first true leaf. II. A rather younger seedling, viewed at night: Rc,
right cotyledon raised, but its position not otherwise changed; Lc,
left cotyledon raised and laterally twisted; F, first leaf raised and
twisted so as to face the left twisted cotyledon. III. Same seedling
viewed at night from the opposite side. The back of the first leaf, F,
is here shown instead of the front, as in II.
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