A new paper published by a biologist at Cornell University argues that some plants are intelligent. In their paper published in Plant Signaling and Behavior, Andre Kessler and his doctoral student, Michael Mueller, discuss how some flora species respond to environmental problems through memory and decision-making.
The duo found that goldenrod — a tall, yellow flower native throughout Canada and much of the United States — can register when its neighbours are under attack, and subsequently organize resistance.
When their leaves are attacked by insects, goldenrods emit volatile organic compounds that signal to other insects that their leaves are damaged, while also changing the reflection of red light from their leaves. Other close-by goldenrods can understand these changes as warning signs and produce defensive compounds to fight off other threats.
In doing so, Kessler and Mueller argue that these plants prepare for future conditions based on their environment. “They can smell out their environment very precisely; every single cell can do it, as far as we know,” said Kessler.
Goldenrods aren’t the only plants known to behave in this way. While scientists have been aware of plant informational exchange since the 1980s, the question of whether plants are intelligent is still a controversial one among scientists.
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