Tendril

In the case of plants as Ranke or Cirrhus transformations of shoot axes of leaves or leaf parts called, are columnar or filiform and hold on to a substrate by wrap around this. Tendrils are touch sensitive and react to a tactile stimulus with curvature and winding movements. Creepers are a subset of climbing plants.

Tendrils of shoot axes for example, form the grapevines ( Vitis ), those from leaves of the pumpkins (Cucurbita ), from the upper leaves the tendrils of pea ( Lathyrus aphaca ) of the leaflets the vetches (Vicia ), and from the fallen leaf spindles Clematis (Clematis vitalba ).

Foliage as an ornament

Plant foliage is used as ornament numerous applications, in all cultures and at all times: from foliage, such as the ancient scrolls in combination with acanthus, palmettes and lotus ornaments, vines ( vignette in the printing industry ) and Fleurons, the arabesques and Mauresken, baroque rocaille until to wind tendrils, as they were in the Art Nouveau style modern. Foliage is both art history interesting ( stylistics ), as well as in heraldry. A special form of tendrils work is the Volutenranke.

Color embossed cover of the first edition of Ben- Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace, 1880

Pseudoflorale, fractal spiral tendril, 2007