After publishing the Origin of Species, Darwin moved into what might be called his botany phase, and he published 7 books on various aspects of variation in plants. In his autobiography Darwin explained his interest in climbing plants:
“I was led to take up this subject by reading a short paper by Asa Gray…. He sent me seeds, and on raising some plants I was so much fascinated and perplexed by the revolving movements of the tendrils and stems, which movements are really very simple, though appearing at first very complex, that I procured various other kinds of Climbing Plants, and studied the whole subject.
Darwin could make sense of this behavior in terms of natural selection. He wrote, “some of the adaptations displayed by climbing plants are as beautiful as those by Orchids for ensuring cross-fertilisation.”
Photo credit: http://darwinsflowers.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/10-4-1_darwin_movements.jpg
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