Plants release a scent to
alert nearby creatures that it is under attack. The distress signal is a way of
screaming for help to be rescued from insect attacks. Scientists discovered
this by studying the wild tobacco plant, and noticed that it released a
compound called Green Leaf Volatiles (GLV).
When caterpillars attacked the tobacco plants, they released GLV as a sign of distress that attracted predatory bugs that ate the caterpillars. This kind of relationship between plants and creatures demonstrates that plants have developed a sort of language to communicate with animals.
Combine this discovery with one that indicates plants are
able to perform simple computations. Plants are dynamically engaged with their
environment by analyzing
and remembering light they have experienced recently. By studying chemical
reactions in leaves, scientists have come to appreciate that plants possess a
kind of intelligence—a nervous system which functions by translating light into
chemical reactions and remembering those reactions over time. Plants need to
analyze and recall different wavelengths of light in order to prepare for
seasonal variations in pests and pathogens in the air.
It makes me
wonder if my brown thumb killed so many plants over the years that I’ve been banned
from ever being a friend of plants (FOP). Regardless of my status of being a
FOP, I thought about how much I like the smell of freshly cut grass. Since we
bought a new weed eater, we didn’t need the old one.
Today’s
gift was to donate our weed eater to the second-hand store. The attendant who took
it out of the car was so excited that he said it was going on the showroom
floor immediately. I’m not sure what kind of sound or scent that weeds emit
when a weed eater is approaching but I doubt it will make any difference in keeping
them from being eaten.
In Giving,
Robin
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