Binding Affinity

youneedacat:

I’ve always insisted plants had to have senses. I mean I have no biology training but I know they know how to react to all kinds of things. It’s hard not to notice if you spend any time at all around them. And while researching human sensory experiences I found this detailed article on plant senses. I’m not sure about the thing on hearing at the end (and neither is the author) but the rest looks legit. As in, not at all resembling the “fluffy” stuff that claims all kinds of things I’m dubious about at best. (Like that guy who was convinced he’d measured plant brain waves.)

Especially when it comes to chemistry plants are just amazing in the complexity of the way they react to their environment, and 9 paragraphs could never do it justice. Allelopathy is a really interesting example that the original author didn’t mention: plants using chemical signals to influence plants of different species. it’s not universally accepted but I think the evidence that it exists is pretty strong. Basically for every alkaloid, terpene, or polyphenol in plants that we know the function of, there are a hundred we don’t. But they almost certainly do participate in the way plants react to their environment, which means that these reactions are incredibly complex beyond anything we can explain. And that amazes me.