Do climbing plants know where theyre going?
CrowdScience listener Eric, in New Zealand, has noticed his wisteria growing towards a neighbouring tree. He thinks that it actually knows where it\u2019s going. But how can a plant have a sense of direction?
Plants don\u2019t have the advantage of brains or eyes, but that doesn\u2019t seem to stop them from being clever enough to find out from their environment where to move and how to get there \u2013 all while being rooted to the spot.
Marnie Chesterton visits the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens in London, home to the largest collection of living plants in the world, to discover how plants make their manoeuvres, and talks to botanists and plant biologists for the latest findings on the mysterious life of climbing plants.
Featuring:
Dr Mariane Sousa-Baena, School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University\nDr Ilia Leitch, Senior Research Leader, Kew Gardens\nTom Freeth, Head of Plant Records, Kew Gardens\nDr Silvia Guerra, Neuroscience of Movement Laboratory, Padua University\nProfessor Christian Fankhauser, Centre for Integrative Genomics, Lausanne University\nDr Sandra Knapp, Merit Researcher, Natural History Museum