Plants as Compasses
Many plants act the part of compasses, and point to a particular aspect ; it may be East, North or South. I fancy that I have discovered a strong tendency in that popular hedge plant, Lonicera nitida, to turn to the South. The bush grows so quickly that it needs constant pruning ; and if this is omitted or spared the several bushes will lean heavily to the South, a weakness which is more or less concealed, till the hedge is closely examined by the young vertical shoots topping the lean-to branches. Whether this observation is local or general I do not for Certain know. This year, as every year for the last twenty or so, I watch the consistent, persistent trend of the Ampelopsis Veitchii towards the North ; it is far the best of the compasses, and has the same prejudice as the real compass. There is, of course, nothing surprising in such temperamental inclination. After all, the spiral plants, most of which turn from right to left, always follow the same course. How obediently the hop-bines follow the lead given them by the fingers of those workers, generally women, who a put them in the way they should go ; but no persuasion or force will induce them to turn in the opposite direction! The directional instinct of plants—what is now called their tropistic tendency—is well worth amateur inquiry. It is a curious fact, pointed out by an amateur gardener many years ago, that some flowers suck their colours from the morning sun. That cut off, they pale " as if fearing that winter's near."
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