Bine (botany)

A bine is a climbing plant which climbs by its shoots growing in a helix around a support. It is distinct from a vine, which climbs using tendrils or suckers.

The stems of many bines are rough or bristly and downward-pointing to aid their grip.

The rotation of the shoot tip during climbing is autonomous, and does not (as sometimes imagined) derive from the shoot following the sun around the sky – the direction of twist does not therefore depend upon which side of the equator the plant is growing. This is shown by the fact that some bines always twine clockwise, including runner bean ("Phaseolus coccineus") and bindweed (Convolvulaceae), while others twine anticlockwise, including French bean ("Phaseolus vulgaris") and climbing honeysuckles ("Lonicera" species).

ee also

*Chirality (handedness)