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Many plants have stems which grow to a considerable length, and which are at the same time too weak to support the plants in the erect position. A considerable number of these show no tendency to assume an upward direction, but simply trail along the surface of the ground, often producing root fibres at their nodes to give them a firmer hold on the soil and to absorb additional supplies of water and mineral food. Some, however, grow in the midst of the shrubs and tall herbage of thickets and hedgerows, or in some other position in which it becomes necessary to strive for a due proportion of light, and such plants would stand but a small chance in the struggle for existence if they did not develop some means of securing a favourable position among their competitors.
These latter are collectively spoken of as climbing plants; but it is interesting to note that in their seedling stage they are all erect, and it is only after they reach a certain height that they commence to assume some definite habit by which they obtain the necessary support, or to develop special organs by which they can cling to objects near them.
Some climbers produce no special organs for the purpose of fastening themselves to surrounding objects, but trust entirely to the wandering and more or less zig-zag nature of their feeble stems, and thus reach the open light merely by a process of interweaving, as in the case of the Hedge Bedstraw (Galium mollugo). Others adopt this same method of interweaving, but at the same time develop some kind of appendages to give them additional support. Thus, the Rough Water Bedstraw (G. uliginosum), which sometimes reaches a height of four or five feet, has recurved bristles all along its slender stem, and these serve as so many little hooks, holding the plant securely on to the neighbouring rank herbage of the marsh or swamp in which it grows, while the rigid leaves further assist by catching in the angles of surrounding stems.
Another good example is to be seen in the common Goose-grass or Cleavers (G. aparine) of our hedgerows, which also reaches a height of four or five feet, and clings very effectually by means of the hooked bristles of its stems and leaves.
The Marsh Speedwell (Veronica scutellata), though it grows to a height of only one foot, is too weak to stand erect without support, and it has quite a novel method of securing the aid of the plants among which it grows. Its two topmost leaves at first stand erect over the terminal bud, so that they are easily pushed through the spaces in the surrounding herbage as the stem lengthens. They then diverge, and even turn slightly downwards, thus forming two supporting arms, the holding power of which is further increased by the down-turned teeth of their margins. This process is repeated by the new pairs of leaves formed at the growing summit of the stem, with the result that the plant easily retains the erect position.
