Powerful loudspeakers and a few brainy scientists was all it took to reveal that plants could actually speak and communicate with each other.
A new research published in the journal Trends in Plant Science, has revealed an amazing fact; plants don't just respond to sound, but they also communicate with each other.
Researchers at the University of Western Australia have now confirmed the fact that plants actually talk and communicate with each other. They managed to hear clicking sounds coming from the roots of corn saplings, indicating the conversation between the plants.
Also, scientists from the Bristol University found that when young roots were suspended in water and exposed to a sound of frequency 220 Hz, which is similar to that of the clicking noises observed, the plants grew towards the source of the sound.
"Everyone knows that plants react to light, and scientists also know that plants use volatile chemicals to communicate with each other, for instance, when danger - such as an herbivore - approaches," Dr. Gagliano said in a university news release.
"I was working one day in my herb garden and started to wonder if maybe plants were also sensitive to sounds - why not? - so I decided as a scientist to find out."
It is already well known that plants tend to grow towards the source of light, but this very revelation may break all the prior conceptions of the plant world.
Since sounds tend to pass through the soil more quickly and clearly, researchers suggest that plants may be well aware of the happenings of their surroundings and extreme climatic conditions such as droughts or water logging. Plants may also be well tuned in to their surroundings this way; they manage to better their chances of survival.
Yet another example of this fact is the research from the Exeter University which found that cabbage plants emitted jasmonate gas when their surfaces are cut or bruised, in order to warn the neighboring plants of danger from caterpillars or other predators.
Long ago, when South African botanist Lyall Watson claimed that plants actually had emotions, and that they could pass a lie detector test, he was ridiculed and his idea was dismissed. Seems like he was right after all!
