Tendrils from the tip of a leaf!?!

Here we go again…..another plant eluding my best efforts at identification. I’ve never seen tendrils growing from the tip of a leaf before!

Here’s a close-up of the mystery plant (vine?) clinging to a nearby Super Cosmos:

This is the third time I’ve noticed this plant in the sunny corner of my rear garden. On previous occasions, it didn’t stick around long enough to show tendrils, probably due to moles destroying the roots. Now that the vermin have gone elsewhere, three such vines are growing tall enough to pique my curiousity!

I’ve noticed a fascinating characteristic: not every leaf grows a tendril! It’s as if the ones closest to an object sense the possibility of support and send out the little string! Look at the stake in the next photo and you’ll see what I mean:

I’d sure love to know what this is! Let me know if you’ve seen anything similar!

Until next time….

🙂 🙂 🙂

Parts of a Leaf: A Diagram (thatplantgeek.wordpress.com)
Growing and growing and growing and….. (utconchocommunitygarden.wordpress.com)

12 thoughts on “Tendrils from the tip of a leaf!?!”

Very strange! Do let us know if you find out what it is. Maybe it’s an alien life form…. 😉

IT is the leaf of the Gloriosa Lily. It sends out tendrils to attach itself to the nearest support.
I have lots of them in my yard .

SmallHouseBigGarden says:

October 24, 2013 at 10:16 am

Fantastic!
you know….this makes total sense! In the spring of 2010 I planted some gloriosa lily seeds I purchased from McKee Botanical Garden. For some reason, I thought gloriosa lilies had strappy leaves and when nothing “strappy” happened I thought, “oh well…another seed failure!”
🙂
Thanks so much for the info!

Now I don’t want to stick my neck out here, but I recall seeing something similar on our Rhodesian Flame lily… I am probably wrong not having seen them since to 70’s but it does ring a bell…