This falls under the category of communication between plants. Yes, plants. And I'm not speaking about talking to your house plants to make them grow more.
According to Smithsonian magazine, pale touch-me-not, Impatiens pallida, can tell with its roots whether a neighboring plant is its sibling.
"In the light: With unrelated neighbors, I. pallida grows short, leafy stalks. With sibling neighbors, it grows taller stalks with fewer leaves, thus sharing the sunlight, says a study from McMaster University in Ontario."
So, pale touch-me-not, and probably other plants, know if they are growing next to a close relative.
- Photo taken along Baskins Creek in Gatlinburg.
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- Photo taken along Baskins Creek in Gatlinburg.
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2 comments:
thank you, I love knowing that about the plant growing taller when it is next to relatives. I was just taking pictures of this one same plant in front of my barn today where there is a whole colony of it and I was thinking how tall it was! The bumblebees love it!
I also love your Cicada article, I just recently realized that they have different tones when we went down the the hills and heard one that sounded totally different from the ones in our yard, thanks so much for the information given so entertainingly, the two of you are so well together, make me laugh too. It is always a joy to see what you two are up to.
Thank you for your kind comment, I'll share it with Karen.
The book "The Songs of Insects" is wonderful. We've had great fun with it this summer.
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