Friday, 25 November 2016

botany - How does the sensitive plant detect vibrations?


The sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) is a remarkable little plant whose characteristic feature is its ability to droop its leaves when disturbed:


sensitive plant animation


Apparently, this ability to droop rests on the cells in the leaves of the sensitive plant being able to draw water out of themselves through changes in intracellular ion concentrations, which makes the leaves less turgid.


What I'm hazy about is how the plant "senses" vibrations. Plants don't really have a nervous system to speak of; how then does the sensitive plant "know" to droop when disturbed?




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