Part 30 (1/2)

Under daily variation of light and darkness, the movement of closure is initiated at about 5 p.m., when the light is undergoing a rapid diminution. The movement of closure is complete by 9 p.m. The leaflets remain closed till about 5 a.m. next morning, after which they begin to open and become fully expanded by 9 a.m.

The terminal leaflet of _Desmodium gyrans_ exhibits a diurnal movement which is very similar to that of _Ca.s.sia_. It begins to open early in the morning and remains outspread during the whole day; the leaflet exhibits a rapid down-movement after 5 p.m. and becomes closely pressed against the petiole in the course of about two hours.

The midday sleep of leaflets of _Mimosa_ and _Averrhoa_ is due to the excitatory action of strong sunlight on the pulvinule, the more excitable half becoming contracted under excitation. In _Mimosa_ leaflets it is the upper, and in _Averrhoa_, it is the lower half of the pulvinule that is the more excitable. It is in consequence of this that the diffuse excitation of strong sunlight causes the leaflets of _Mimosa_ to fold upwards, those of _Averrhoa_ to fold downwards.

XLVIII.--DIURNAL MOVEMENT DUE TO VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE AFFECTING GROWTH

_By_

SIR J. C. BOSE,

_a.s.sisted by_

LALIT MOHAN MUKERJEE.

It has been stated that there are two cla.s.ses of diurnal movements caused by variation of temperature; one of these is due to differential growth induced on two sides of the organ, and the other is brought about by the induced variation of geotropic curvature. The former may be distinguished as _Thermonastic_, and the latter as _Thermo-geotropic_ movement. Before laying down the criteria to distinguish the one cla.s.s of phenomenon from the other, it would be advisable to refer to the somewhat arbitrary distinction that has been made between nastic and tropic reactions.

TROPIC AND NASTIC MOVEMENTS.

The explanation, which I shall offer about the night and day movements in plants, has been reached through the study not only of pulvinated, but also of growing and fully grown organs. A distinction is made between the movement due to growth, and the 'variation movement' due to change of turgor. I have shown (p. 239) that the same diminution of turgor which induces a contraction in a pulvinus, also induces in a growing organ an incipient contraction, and r.e.t.a.r.dation of growth.

Enhancement of turgor, on the other hand, induces in both the opposite effect of expansion. Unilateral stimulus induces curvature, and there is no essential difference in the production of such curvatures in pulvinated, growing, and fully grown organs. The exhibition of nyct.i.tropic movement by the fully grown, and rigid 'Praying Palm' is a striking demonstration of the unity of response of all plant organs.

As regards the distinction between the tropic and nastic movements, it will be found that there is no sharp line of demarcation between the two. A movement is said to be _tropic_, when unilateral stimulus acts on an organ and induces in it a directive movement. Curvature induced by diffused stimulus on a dorsiventral or anisotropic organ (with differential excitabilities of the two halves) is termed _nastic_.

Daylight is supposed to act diffusely (_i.e._, equally on all sides) on leaves; this is, however, not strictly true, since the light from sky above is stronger than from ground below. Moreover, the tropic action of unilateral light may become nastic by internal diffusion of excitation.

This is seen in the response of the pulvinus of _Mimosa_ to light acting from above. The leaf at first moves upwards towards the stimulus, the response being positively phototropic. But under the continued action of light, excitation becomes internally diffused, and the leaf undergoes a fall by the greater contraction of the more excitable lower half of the organ (p. 331). No sharp distinction can therefore be made between the movements of growth and of variation, between tropic and nastic curvatures.

The employment of the term 'nastic' is, however, convenient when used in a well-defined and restricted sense. ”We speak of tropism when the organ takes up a resting position definitely _related to the effective stimulus_. Nastic movements, on the other hand, are curvatures which bring about a particular position _in relation to the plant_, and not to the direction of the stimulus”.[41] It will sometimes be necessary, in the course of this paper, to discriminate the movements which are autonomous from others which are paratonic, _i.e._, brought about by external stimulus, to the former cla.s.s belongs a large number of automatic activities ranging from the quick pulsations of _Desmodium gyrans_ to the slow movements, exhibited by epinastic and hyponastic organs. Under the category of nastic movements may also be included those of the flower of _Crocus_ and _Tulip_, in which variation of temperature induces differential growth on two sides of the organ. The direction of the movement, though initiated by change of temperature, is determined by the difference of growth-activity on the two sides. In these instances of nastic movement, the induced curvature is in relation of the plant; the opening of the flower due to rise of temperature will remain the same, whether the flower be kept in an erect or in an inverted position. Had the movement, on the other hand, been paratonic, that is to say, due to the external stimulus of gravity, the responsive movement would have been determined not in relation to the plant but to the direction of external force of gravity.

[41] Strasburger--”Text-book of Botany” (1912), p. 300.

In the description of direction of responsive movements, confusion is likely to arise unless the point of view be carefully defined. An up-movement of a leaf or a petal means approach towards the growing point of the axis. This may be variously described as movement of closure or of folding. A down-movement may, on the other hand, be described as a movement of opening or of unfolding. If the plant be held inverted, two different effects will be noticed depending on the character of the movement, whether nastic or tropic. In the case of nastic movement, the former up-movement in erect position would appear, on inversion of the plant, to be a down-movement; but in relation to the plant the closure movement will remain closure movement, whether the plant be held in the normal position or upside down. If, on the other hand, the direction of movement be determined by the paratonic effect of external stimulus, gravity for example, an up-movement due to fall of temperature will continue to be an up-movement, whether the plant be held in its normal or inverted position. The responsive movement in relation to the plant will, however, be different; the closure movement will, on inversion, be reversed into a movement of opening. The reversal of closure into an opening movement or _vice versa_ will thus be a test of the paratonic effect of external stimulus.

We may thus distinguish thermonastic from thermo-geotropic action by the following tests:

1. Thermonastic movements are, generally speaking, due to differential growth, and are therefore characteristically present in growing organs.

Thermo-geotropic action is independent of growth.

2. Thermonastic movements take place in relation to the plant, and is not determined by external force of a directive nature. Opening or closing movement will remain unchanged after inversion of the plant. But thermo-geotropic reaction being determined by the external stimulus of gravity, becomes reversed on inversion of the plant. Closure movement is thus converted into opening movement, and _vice versa_.

I shall now take up the diurnal movement due to variation of growth induced by change of temperature. Of this the flower of _Nymphaea_ furnishes an example.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 195.--Nymphaea closed at daytime.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 196.--Nymphaea open at night.]