Are Plants Conscious, Intelligent?

From the 1960s up to today, some scientists have made astounding claims about the high level of intelligence and sensory capabilities possessed by plants. Their findings raise questions about what it means to be “sentient” and what defines “consciousness.”

Professor Stefano Mancuso at the International Laboratory for Plant Neurobiology at the University of Florence talked to the BBC this month for a special exploring the intelligence of plants. He said, “We are convinced that plants are cognitive and intelligent, so we use techniques and methods normally used to study cognitive animals.”

He experimented with two climbing bean plants. The plants were set up to compete for a pole. The loser sensed the other plant had reached the pole first and started looking for an alternative.

In animals we call this consciousness.

“It demonstrates the plants were aware of their physical environment and the behavior of the other plant,” Mancuso said. “In animals we call this consciousness.”

A Sense of Community

Suzanne Simard, an ecology professor at the University of British Columbia, told BBC “We haven’t treated [plants] … with respect that they are sentient beings.” She experimented with Douglas fir trees, and found they could recognize their own kin when grown in a neighborhood of “strangers” and kin.

The trees also seemed to be able to sense when they were dying, and they released carbon into neighboring pine trees.

“My interpretation was the Douglas fir knew it was dying and wanted to pass its legacy of carbon on to its neighbor, because that would be beneficial for the associated fungi and the community,” Simard said.

Long-Term Memory, Learning

Last year, Dr. Monica Gagliano at the University of Western Australia published a study in the journal Oecologia examining the long-term memory of plants. She dropped potted Mimosa Pudica plants onto cushioning foam from a height that would shock the plants, but not harm them.

She was able to monitor their reactions and found that the plants eventually learned the fall would not harm them. The plants retained a long-term memory of what they learned.

But do these behaviors constitute “intelligence”?

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