Botany; Geotropism; Plants -- Irritability and movements
Opuntia basilaris (Cacteæ).—A seedling was carefully observed, because,
considering its appearance and the nature of the mature plant, it
seemed very unlikely that either the hypocotyl or cotyledons would
circumnutate to an appreciable extent. The cotyledons were well
developed, being .9 of an inch in length, .22 in breadth, and .15 in
thickness. The almost cylindrical hypocotyl, now bearing a minute
spinous bud on its summit, was only .45 of an inch in height, and .19
in diameter. The tracing (Fig. 31) shows the combined movement of the
hypocotyl and of one of the cotyledons, from 4.45 P.M. on May 28th to
11 A.M. on the 31st. On the 29th a nearly perfect ellipse was
completed. On the 30th the hypocotyl moved, from some unknown cause, in
the same general direction in a zigzag line; but between 4.30 and 10
P.M. almost completed a second small ellipse. The cotyledons move only
a little up and down: thus at 10.15 P.M. they stood only 10° higher
than at noon. The chief seat of movement therefore, at least when the
cotyledons are rather old as in the present case, lies in the
hypocotyl. The ellipse described on the 29th had its longer axis
directed at nearly right angles to a line joining the two cotyledons.
The actual amount of movement of the bead at the end of the
filament was, as far as could be ascertained, about .14 of an inch.
Fig. 32. Helianthus annuus: circumnutation of hypocotyl, with filament
fixed across its summit, traced on a horizontal glass in darkness, from
8.45 A.M. to 10.45 P.M., and for an hour on following morning. Movement
of bead magnified 21 times, here reduced to one-half of original scale.
Helianthus annuus (Compositæ).—The upper part of the hypocotyl moved
during the day-time in the course shown in the annexed figure (Fig.
32). As the line runs in various directions, crossing itself several
times, the movement may be considered as one of circumnutation. The
extreme actual distance travelled was at least .1 of an inch. The
movements of the cotyledons of two seedlings were observed; one facing
a north-east window, and the other so feebly illuminated from above us
as to be almost in darkness. They continued to sink till about noon,
when they began to rise; but between 5 and 7 or 8 P.M. they either sank
a little, or moved laterally, and then again began to rise. At 7 A.M.
on the following morning those on the plant before the north-east
window had opened so little that they stood at an angle of 73° above
the horizon, and were not observed any longer. Those on the seedling
which had been kept in almost complete darkness, sank during the whole
day, without rising about mid-day, but rose during the night. On the
third and fourth days they continued sinking without any alternate
ascending movement; and this, no doubt, was due to the absence of
light.
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