The secret sensory life of plants: researchers are discovering how they see, hear, feel – and even remember

Plants are often seen as passive organisms, rooted in one place and largely unable to react to the world around them.

But a new field of research is challenging these assumptions and showing that plants are as sophisticated as animals in detecting and adjusting to environmental signals.

Plants can perceive light through specialised proteins, detect sound vibrations and respond to touch via mechano-sensitive channels, recognise chemical signals released by neighbouring plants, and even retain memories of past experiences through changes in their DNA.

My own research focuses on how plants detect the passage of time as part of their seasonal cycle, but that is merely one aspect of a major reconsideration of their sensory capacity – and the parallels with animal senses.

The secret sensory life of plants: researchers are discovering how they see, hear, feel – and even remember

Plants can tune into the sound of water to direct their roots towards it, or release toxins to make themselves less palatable to browsing animals.

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