Ig Nobel Winner Suggests Plants Can See
The study offers evidence that at least one plant species can see the leaves of neighboring plants — and mimics them.
I love plants. I have many — some may say too many, but I believe there’s no such thing. I love watching them grow and observing the diverse forms they take. And with technological and scientific advancements in the last few decades, scientists have learned incredible things about them.
The more I learn about what scientists are discovering, the more obsessed with plants I become. For instance, this year’s Ig Nobel (Iggy) prize winners in Botany provide convincing evidence that a living plant can see and imitate the shapes of neighboring plants. However, the story behind the research started in 2014.
2014 — Initial Curiosity
A decade ago, in 2014, Ernesto Gianoli, a plant ecologist and biology professor at the University of Concepción in Chile, was exploring a southern Chile rainforest when he noticed something curious. A vine plant called Boquila trifoliolata seemed to mimic the leaves of a nearby and unrelated arrayán shrub. Gianoli explained to Benji Jones of Vox:
“Commonly, the leaves of B. trifoliolata are stubby with three blunt lobes, but here, they looked…
