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37     on being a vine
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Vines, like grasses, are by and large not self-supporting. However, vines, unlike grasses supported by the ground, climb up onto self-supporting plants and array their leaves over that trellis, as in this image of a wild sweet potato plant (Ipomoea, Convolvulaceae). They seek the sun by layering over other plants, rather than by extending branches into free space. As such, they do not pay the costs of building and maintaining the trunk and branch infrastructure.
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