Once Considered Outlandish, the Idea That Plants Help Their Relatives is Taking Root (sciencemag.org)

An anonymous reader shares a report: A Canadian biologist planted the seed of the idea more than a decade ago, but many plant biologists regarded it as heretical -- plants lack the nervous systems that enable animals to recognize kin, so how can they know their relatives? But with a series of recent findings, the notion that plants really do care for their most genetically close peers -- in a quiet, plant-y way -- is taking root. . Some species constrain how far their roots spread, others change how many flowers they produce, and a few tilt or shift their leaves to minimize shading of neighboring plants, favoring related individuals.

"We need to recognize that plants not only sense whether it's light or dark or if they've been touched, but also whom they are interacting with," says Susan Dudley, a plant evolutionary ecologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, whose early plant kin recognition studies sparked the interest of many scientists. Beyond broadening views of plant behavior, the new work may have a practical side. In September 2018, a team in China reported that rice planted with kin grows better, a finding that suggested family ties can be exploited to improve crop yields. "It seems anytime anyone looks for it, they find a kin effect," says Andre Kessler, a chemical ecologist at Cornell University.

Comments

You're wrong.

[Anonymous Coward]

Meat, a lot of saturated (animal) fat, maybe some organs (like liver), and an occasional selection of fruits and veggies but only when they would be naturally in season (i.e., Summer).

For most of human history, there weren't a lot of fruit or vegetables. Just meat and FAT.

Chronic consumption of carbohydrates (in any form) is wrongheaded.

Oh. And, rocket science is easy.

Re:If plants are sentient creatures

[rsilvergun]

carrot juice is murder!

Jokes aside nobody's suggestion plants are sentient, just that they seem to have behaviors that favor similar plants. That could just as easily be an evolved survival mechanism. Plants still don't have central nervous systems.

Though I do think it would be cool in a sci-fi sort of way to evolve beyond the need for consuming living organisms. That said, we ain't there, and while I eat a mostly vegetarian diet it's for health reasons, not for the sake of animals. I've got a dog for Pete's sake, and I ain't feeding her carrots.