“White curly thing”

What is the white curly thing in my photo?

Impressive tendril!

The pale, spiral object in your photo looks like a dried-up tendril from a plant vine. Plants that produce vines (such as wild grapes) will typically send out thin structures called tendrils; they grow opposite the leaves, and extend outwards to help support the plant as it climbs.

The tendrils grow in a whip-like, spiraling motion that helps them grab onto any nearby supports (like a lasso). Once they encounter something strong (such as the twig that your spiral seems to have wrapped around), their spiral growth helps them to hold on tight and reinforce the growing vine.

Once the growing season is over, the tendrils dry out and harden into part of the vine’s support structure. (Some crafty people will even collect the dried tendrils for wreaths and arrangement; some people even sell them on crafting sites such as Etsy!)

If you’d like to read more, here’s a great summary of wild grapevine growth from Michigan State University.  This guide from Massachusetts offers another photo-rich summary of vine structure.

The tendril in your photo might be a record-setting spiral, though!

-Naturalist Chris Mentrek