Communication of Plants

In the last chapter we were talking about communication among animals, now let´s dive into the paradise of plants and find out not IF but HOW can pants communicate with each other.

The first and the most common example of a plant that uses communication to survive is grass. Yes, the green carpet under your feet in the park or in a garden can communicate while you walk on it and listen to music. The blades of grass use pheromones to communicate with each other. And when you can notice these grass warnings? Do you remember that fresh the typical smell of freshly cut grass in a garden or in a park? In reality, it´s a smell of crying grass, because, at the moment when you harm a blade of grass, it instantly starts to exclude pheromones to warn other blades of grass that danger is nearby. The reason why is this happening is that this grass pheromone supports the growth of the plant - the plant grows noticeably faster and in the end, it is even stronger and more resistant than before - likewise a broken arm, for example.

Another plant with this surprising ability to "communicate is Acacia, the most common giraffe food. Fruits of this Savana tree with giant thorns contain cyanide. Why? In the moment when a giraffe with its thong and teeth tastes only single acacia fruit, harmed part of the fruit, leaf or a branch starts to exude cyanide. Other acacia trees nearby "smell" this cyanide-flavor warning and starts to exile cyanide, too so the giraffe can only feed on one tree for a short time and rather than poison itself decides to leave this area of acacias alone and finds a different source of food.

The world of plants is much more fascinating than people can think even though we can´t see their abilities at the first sight.

Karolína Walterová