Bignonia aequinoctialis, var. Chamberlaynii.--The internodes, the elongated non-sensitive petioles, and the tendrils all revolve. The stem does not twine, but ascends a vertical stick in the same manner as the last species. The tendrils also resemble those of the last species, but are shorter; the three toes are more unequal in length, the two outer ones being about one-third shorter and rather thinner than the middle toe; but they vary in this respect. They terminate in small hard points; and what is important, cellular adhesive discs are not developed. The reduced size of two of the toes as well as their lessened sensitiveness, seem to indicate a tendency to abortion; and on one of my plants the first-formed tendrils were sometimes simple, that is, were not divided into three toes. We are thus naturally led to the three following species with undivided tendrils
Bignonia speciosa.--The young shoots revolve irregularly, making narrow ellipses, spires or circles, at rates varying from 3 hrs. 30 m. to 4 hrs. 40 m.; but they show no tendency to twine. Whilst the plant is young and does not require a support, tendrils are not developed. Those borne by a moderately young plant were five inches in length. They revolve spontaneously, as do the short and non- sensitive petioles. When rubbed, they slowly bend to the rubbed side and subsequently straighten themselves; but they are not highly sensitive. There is something strange in their behaviour: I repeatedly placed close to them, thick and thin, rough and smooth sticks and posts, as well as string suspended vertically, but none of these objects were well seized. After clasping an upright stick, they repeatedly loosed it again, and often would not seize it at all, or their extremities did not coil closely round. I have observed hundreds of tendrils belonging to various Cucurbitaceous, Passifloraceous, and Leguminous plants, and never saw one behave in this manner. When, however, my plant had grown to a height of eight or nine feet, the tendrils acted much better. They now seized a thin, upright stick horizontally, that is, at a point on their own level, and not some way up the stick as in the case of all the previous species. Nevertheless, the non-twining stem was enabled by this means to ascend the stick.
The extremity of the tendril is almost straight and sharp. The whole terminal portion exhibits a singular habit, which in an animal would be called an instinct; for it continually searches for any little crevice or hole into which to insert itself. I had two young plants; and, after having observed this habit, I placed near them posts, which had been bored by beetles, or had become fissured by drying. The tendrils, by their own movement and by that of the internodes, slowly travelled over the surface of the wood, and when the apex came to a hole or fissure it inserted itself; in order to effect this the extremity for a length of half or quarter of an inch, would often bend itself at right angles to the basal part. I have watched this process between twenty and thirty times. The same tendril would frequently withdraw from one hole and insert its point into a second hole. I have also seen a tendril keep its point, in one case for 20 hrs. and in another for 36 hrs., in a minute hole, and then withdraw it. Whilst the point is thus temporarily inserted, the opposite tendril goes on revolving.
The whole length of a tendril often fits itself closely to any surface of wood with which it has come into contact; and I have observed one bent at right angles, from having entered a wide and deep fissure, with its apex abruptly re-bent and inserted into a minute lateral hole. After a tendril has clasped a stick, it contracts spirally; if it remains unattached it hangs straight downwards. If it has merely adapted itself to the inequalities of a thick post, though it has clasped nothing, or if it has inserted its apex into some little fissure, this stimulus suffices to induce spiral contraction; but the contraction always draws the tendril away from the post. So that in every case these movements, which seem so nicely adapted for some purpose, were useless. On one occasion, however, the tip became permanently jammed into a narrow fissure. I fully expected, from the analogy of B. capreolata and B. littoralis, that the tips would have been developed into adhesive discs; but I could never detect even a trace of this process. There is therefore at present something unintelligible about the habits of this plant.