The helix hand reversal exhibited by the tendrils of climbing plants when attached to a support is investigated. Modeled as a thin elastic rod with intrinsic curvature, a linear and nonlinear stability analysis shows the problem to be a paradigm for curvature induced morphogenesis in which symmetry breaking is constrained by a global invariant.

• Received 4 November 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.1564