Interesting things in the plant world

Have you ever heard trees talking, sulking or moving? Those wonders have been discovered by scientists, making us surprised.

Strange story in the plant world

Remember like . plants

New research by Australian scientists shows that Mimosa pudica is capable of remembering things that happened like animals.

Virgin mimosa pudica tree.(Photo: sci-news.com)

In the study, experts from the University of Western Australia tested the activities of "training" short-term and long-term memory for virgin trees (shame) by watering them regularly in sheen conditions. different light.

Normally, mimosa leaves will curl up when water is attached. However, in this study, the scientists found that mimosa plants could understand the experiment without affecting them, so after several times of impact, they did not immediately roll the leaves back as normal reactions. .

Nature World News said, a few weeks after the test, they could remember the trained reaction. Virgin plants seem to adapt to external influences faster in low light conditions.

According to scientists, plants do not have the brain and fish tissue like animals but thanks to the calcium system in the cells, they have memorization reactions such as experimental results.

Plants 'melon' together?

Have you ever heard trees "talk" ? Definitely not, even if you walk in the middle of a forest. However, botanists have argued that plants communicate and call for help in their own way, most often in case of danger. For example, after being attacked by insects, the insidious tomato plant informs its relatives by releasing some odor molecules into the air. This message was determined by botanists to have the smell of newly mowed grass. Immediately after receiving the warning, the neighbor trees prepared to deal with the attack of the vandals by grinding their chemical weapons .

Not only do new crops warn each other of danger or 'trafficking' but in the South African steppe, acacia trees are attacked immediately by koudou, cousins ​​and antelopes. Immediately alert the surrounding trees with a gas message . This "cry for help" helps other plants find ways to protect their leaves by concentrating all the acrid tannin on their leaves. This is an effective defense to repel enemies that eat leaves.

Tactics against drought of plants

To combat the heat, humans know how to install air conditioners, so how will plants react to avoid 'stress ' to water?

Normally plants retain in themselves very little water can be absorbed from the soil. When the sap goes from the roots to the top, it contains 98% water. This amount of water when coming to the leaves will be evaporated through microscopic air holes on the leaf surface. However, the tree will be "stressed" back to the water if the volume of water evaporates more than the amount of water that the plant absorbs from the soil. In order to avoid this situation, in the process of development, plants have applied many methods to save water.

'When the roots feel the water scarcity in the ground, it immediately synthesizes a stress hormone. It is abscissique acid. This chemical follows the resin to close the vapors to evaporate water on the surface of the leaf. Thus, the amount of water evaporated is limited, ' explains Thierry Simonneau, a researcher at the Stress-Tolerant Plant Environmental Laboratory under the Montpellier Institute of Agronomy (France).

Some species " resist drought" by rolling leaves back like corn plants or wilting leaves like sunflower . However, the tree will grow slowly.

Plants move

Do you think trees can't go from one place to another? Not true, there are at least 1 species with this ability, it is mangrove . In the tropics, they grow through the estuaries like a wading bird. The mangrove roots are very strange, growing from the branches, can be up to 25m long, catching oxygen in the air before plugging into the mud to get water.

The bigger the tree grows, the lower the branch (the oldest branch) grows more and more roots. Under the weight of yourself and under the influence of wind or tides, these branches will crack from the body. Do not receive the resin from the trunk, nor because of themselves, they can gain vitality directly from the ground thanks to their own roots . Due to the injury, the outer part of the branch will also die, although it was previously separated completely from the body and formed a new branch, living independently as a mangrove seedling.

But unlike the main tree, this tree can move . During growth, it creates new roots forward, despite the dead part and self-destruct. Within 1 year, this new plant " walked" an incredible distance for an object that was supposed to be immobile: 2 - 5cm. It only stops if another tree gets in the way or separates too far from the coast (this time the sea floor is too deep).

Assassin tree

With roots rooted firmly in the ground, big body, branches pointing straight up into the sky, this plant seems harmless. But no one thinks they are hiding " poisonous weapons ". In the tropics, fig trees are considered to be "people who strangle" other plants.

It all started with some bird sipping a succulent fig. The seeds move to the bird's digestive system. Because it is too hard, figs are released intact in the guano. Unfortunate for any tree that receives this harmful gift for this. Because if the bird droppings fall and is stuck in the tree, the seeds will germinate. From here, the host begins to worry. First small fig tree rooted directly into the host tree. Gradually, other roots grow, enclose and tightly wrap the trees after the reception welcomes them.

The higher the tree grows, the more water is needed, but because the trunk has been tied, it cannot be enlarged. So the amount of water leading from the roots to the leaves is not enough. Lack of water, thirsty plants and " death".

It decomposes completely in 1-2 years. The only ruin of this silent war is the shadow of the victim. It is present in the form of an empty space between assassinated roots . Over time, growing root roots form an alternative stem.

Tap water

Garoe, a species that belongs to them, may never develop in Hierro Island. They need a lot of water, while on this Canarie island it is almost never raining. However, in fact, garoe is still alive and well.

There is no secret, because their leaves can flow into taps. Where does this country come from? From the thick fog often reigns on the island at an altitude of 600-1,500 m. Small droplets of water forming fog are often pushed away by the wind. Meeting the leaves, they clung to and gathered into small streams.

Calculated, a garoe can produce nearly 80 liters of water per day by spreading a giant leaf net hundreds of square meters (area of ​​the entire leaf) to catch small drops of water in the fog . This strategy seems to be very effective because there are many species of plants in the world currently applied, such as in Chile, South Africa . From olive trees to juniper trees, any kind can produce water if they are available. The foliage is thick enough and the climatic conditions there are the same as on Hierro Island. This water is very valuable for the local people.