The Power of Movement in Plants by Charles Darwin (book club books TXT) 📖

continue to grow, and some parts which are provided with pulvini after they have ceased to grow, are continually circumnutating.

This movement commences even before the young seedling has broken through the ground. The nature of the movement and its causes, as far as ascertained, have been briefly described in the Introduction. Why every part of a plant whilst it is growing, and in some cases after growth has ceased, should have its cells rendered more turgescent and its cell-walls more extensile first on one side and then on another, thus inducing circumnutation is not known. It would appear as if the changes in the cells required periods of rest.

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In some cases, as with the hypocotyls of Brassica, the leaves of Dionaea and the joints of the Gramineae, the circumnutating movement when viewed under the microscope is seen to consist of innumerable small oscillations.

The part under observation suddenly jerks forwards for a length of .002 to .001 of an inch, and then slowly retreats for a part of this distance; after a few seconds it again jerks forwards, but with many intermissions.

The retreating movement apparently is due to the elasticity of the resisting tissues. How far this oscillatory movement is general we do not know, as not many circumnutating plants were observed by us under the microscope; but no such movement could be detected in the case of Drosera with a 2-inch object-glass which we used. The phenomenon is a remarkable one. The whole hypocotyl of a cabbage or the whole leaf of a Dionaea could not jerk forwards unless a very large number of cells on one side were simultaneously affected. Are we to suppose that these cells steadily become more and more turgescent on one side, until the part suddenly yields and bends, inducing what may be called a microscopically minute earthquake in the plant; or do the cells on one side suddenly become turgescent in an intermittent manner; each forward movement thus caused being opposed by the elasticity of the tissues?

 

Circumnutation is of paramount importance in the life of every plant; for it is through its modification that many highly beneficial or necessary movements have been acquired. When light strikes one side of a plant, or light changes into darkness, or when gravitation acts on a displaced part, the plant is enabled in some unknown manner to increase the always varying turgescence of the cells on one side; so that the ordinary circumnutating movement is

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modified, and the part bends either to or from the exciting cause; or it may occupy a new position, as in the so-called sleep of leaves. The influence which modifies circumnutation may be transmitted from one part to another. Innate or constitutional changes, independently of any external agency, often modify the circumnutating movements at particular periods of the life of the plant. As circumnutation is universally present, we can understand how it is that movements of the same kind have been developed in the most distinct members of the vegetable series. But it must not be supposed that all the movements of plants arise from modified circumnutation; for, as we shall presently see, there is reason to believe that this is not the case.

 

Having made these few preliminary remarks, we will in imagination take a germinating seed, and consider the part which the various movements play in the life-history of the plant. The first change is the protrusion of the radicle, which begins at once to circumnutate. This movement is immediately modified by the attraction of gravity and rendered geotropic. The radicle, therefore, supposing the seed to be lying on the surface, quickly bends downwards, following a more or less spiral course, as was seen on the smoked glass-plates. Sensitiveness to gravitation resides in the tip; and it is the tip which transmits some influence to the adjoining parts, causing them to bend. As soon as the tip, protected by the root-cap, reaches the ground, it penetrates the surface, if this be soft or friable; and the act of penetration is apparently aided by the rocking or circumnutating movement of the whole end of the radicle. If the surface is compact, and cannot easily be penetrated, then [page 549]

the seed itself, unless it be a heavy one, is displaced or lifted up by the continued growth and elongation of the radicle. But in a state of nature seeds often get covered with earth or other matter, or fall into crevices, etc., and thus a point of resistance is afforded, and the tip can more easily penetrate the ground. But even with seeds lying loose on the surface there is another aid: a multitude of excessively fine hairs are emitted from the upper part of the radicle, and these attach themselves firmly to stones or other objects lying on the surface, and can do so even to glass; and thus the upper part is held down whilst the tip presses against and penetrates the ground. The attachment of the root-hairs is effected by the liquefaction of the outer surface of the cellulose walls, and by the subsequent setting hard of the liquefied matter. This curious process probably takes place, not for the sake of the attachment of the radicles to superficial objects, but in order that the hairs may be brought into the closest contact with the particles in the soil, by which means they can absorb the layer of water surrounding them, together with any dissolved matter.

 

After the tip has penetrated the ground to a little depth, the increasing thickness of the radicle, together with the root-hairs, hold it securely in its place; and now the force exerted by the longitudinal growth of the radicle drives the tip deeper into the ground. This force, combined with that due to transverse growth, gives to the radicle the power of a wedge.

Even a growing root of moderate size, such as that of a seedling bean, can displace a weight of some pounds. It is not probable that the tip when buried in compact earth can actually circumnutate and thus aid its downward passage, but the circumnutating movement will facilitate the tip entering any lateral

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or oblique fissure in the earth, or a burrow made by an earth-worm or larva; and it is certain that roots often run down the old burrows of worms. The tip, however, in endeavouring to circumnutate, will continually press against the earth on all sides, and this can hardly fail to be of the highest importance to the plant; for we have seen that when little bits of card-like paper and of very thin paper were cemented on opposite sides of the tip, the whole growing part of the radicle was excited to bend away from the side bearing the card or more resisting substance, towards the side bearing the thin paper. We may therefore feel almost sure that when the tip encounters a stone or other obstacle in the ground, or even earth more compact on one side than the other, the root will bend away as much as it can from the obstacle or the more resisting earth, and will thus follow with unerring skill a line of least resistance.

 

The tip is more sensitive to prolonged contact with an object than to gravitation when this acts obliquely on the radicle, and sometimes even when it acts in the most favourable direction at right angles to the radicle. The tip was excited by an attached bead of shellac weighing less than 1/200th of a grain (0.33 mg.); it is therefore more sensitive than the most delicate tendril, namely, that of Passiflora gracilis, which was barely acted on by a bit of wire weighing 1/50th of a grain. But this degree of sensitiveness is as nothing compared with that of the glands of Drosera, for these are excited by particles weighing only 1/78740 of a grain. The sensitiveness of the tip cannot be accounted for by its being covered by a thinner layer of tissue than the other parts, for it is protected by the relatively thick root-cap. It is remarkable that although the radicle bends away, when one side of the tip is slightly touched [page 551]

with caustic, yet if the side be much cauterised the injury is too great, and the power of transmitting some influence to the adjoining parts causing them to bend, is lost. Other analogous cases are known to occur.

 

After a radicle has been deflected by some obstacle, geotropism directs the tip again to grow perpendicularly downwards; but geotropism is a feeble power, and here, as Sachs has shown, another interesting adaptive movement comes into play; for radicles at a distance of a few millimeters from the tip are sensitive to prolonged contact in such a manner that they bend towards the touching object, instead of from it as occurs when an object touches one side of the tip. Moreover, the curvature thus caused is abrupt; the pressed part alone bending. Even slight pressure suffices, such as a bit of card cemented to one side. therefore a radicle, as it passes over the edge of any obstacle in the ground, will through the action of geotropism press against it; and this pressure will cause the radicle to endeavour to bend abruptly over the edge. It will thus recover as quickly as possible its normal downward course.

 

Radicles are also sensitive to air which contains more moisture on one side than the other, and they bend towards its source. It is therefore probable that they are in like manner sensitive to dampness in the soil. It was ascertained in several cases that this sensitiveness resides in the tip, which transmits an influence causing the adjoining upper part to bend in opposition to geotropism towards the moist object. We may therefore infer that roots will be deflected from their downward course towards any source of moisture in the soil.

 

Again, most or all radicles are slightly sensitive to light, and according to Wiesner, generally bend a little

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from it. Whether this can be of any service to them is very doubtful, but with seeds germinating on the surface it will slightly aid geotropism in directing the radicles to the ground.* We ascertained in one instance that such sensitiveness resided in the tip, and caused the adjoining parts to bend from the light. The sub-a�rial roots observed by Wiesner were all apheliotropic, and this, no doubt, is of use in bringing them into contact with trunks of trees or surfaces of rock, as is their habit.

 

We thus see that with seedling plants the tip of the radicle is endowed with diverse kinds of sensitiveness; and that the tip directs the adjoining growing parts to bend to or from the exciting cause, according to the needs of the plant. The sides of the radicle are also sensitive to contact, but in a widely different manner. Gravitation, though a less powerful cause of movement than the other above specified stimuli, is ever present; so that it ultimately prevails and determines the downward growth of the root.

 

The primary radicle emits secondary ones which project sub-horizontally; and these were observed in one case to circumnutate. Their tips are also sensitive to contact, and they are thus excited to bend away from any touching object; so that they resemble in these respects, as far as they were observed, the primary radicles. If displaced they resume, as Sachs has shown, their original sub-horizontal position; and this apparently is due to diageotropism. The secondary radicles emit tertiary ones, but these, in the case of the bean, are not affected by gravitation; consequently they protrude in all directions. Thus the general * Dr. Karl Richter, who has especially attended to this subject (‘K. Akad.

der Wissenschaften in Wien,’ 1879, p. 149), states that apheliotropism does not aid radicles in penetrating the ground.

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