14 DAY TRIAL // This might come as a bit of a shock but, as it turns out, plants are quite the chatterers. Granted, they almost never talk to people – except for the occasional flaming bush, that is – but they do communicate with one another.
The video below made it online this past June 17, when it was posted on YouTube by the folks behind Minute Earth, and it documents the secret social life of plants.
As it turns out, plants rely on chemical signals to warn others of potential threats. Injured plants release compounds that eventually stick to the leaves of their friends and neighbors, and that cause the latter to activate various defense mechanisms.
More precisely, studies have shown that such chemical warnings can cause tomato or tobacco plants to produce compounds intended to keep caterpillars at bay by making their leaves taste awful.
Corn and cotton, on the other hand, have been documented to rely on various chemicals to attract other species that can chase caterpillars away, maybe even kill them. Pretty neat, if you ask me.
Check out the video below to learn more about how plants communicate with one another, but be warned: chances are that, once you are done watching this short animation, you will never look at a tree the same way you have until now.
