I will spare you the
familiar examples of the sensitive mimosa, the sev-
eral insectivorous flowers and those whose stamens
bend down and shake their pollen upon the enter-
ing bee in order that he may fertilize their distant
mates. But observe this. In an open spot in my
garden I planted a climbing vine. When it was barely
above the surface I set a stake into the soil a yard
away. The vine at once made for it, but as it was
about to reach it after several days I removed it
a few feet. The vine at once altered its course, mak-
ing an acute angle, and again made for the stake.
This manoeuvre was repeated several times, but
finally, as if discouraged, the vine abandoned the
pursuit and ignoring further attempts to divert it,
travelled to a small tree, farther away, which it
climbed.
'Roots of the eucalyptus will prolong themselves
incredibly in search of moisture. A well-known horti-
culturist relates that one entered an old drain-pipe
and followed it until it came to a break, where a
section of the pipe had been removed to make way
for a stone wall that had been built across its course.
The root left the drain and followed the wall until
it found an opening where a stone had fallen out. It
crept through and following the other side of the
wall back to the drain, entered the unexplored part
and resumed its journey.'
'And all this?'
'Can you miss the significance of it? It shows the
consciousness of plants.
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