Dancing Plants

—Courtney Rothaus, Garden & Education Coordinator

Waltz of the Flowers, Fantasia (1940)

Do you think plants can dance? Well, according to Aristotle, plants are passive, unmoving organisms - a theory that prevailed until nearly the twentieth century. Since that time, however, scientists have discovered that plants are extremely dynamic, reacting to a variety of stimuli, like temperature, moisture, gravity, touch, and light. While their movement is not quite like the Waltz of the Flowers in Fantasia, at times-and with the aid of time-lapse photography-some plants actually do appear to be dancing.

Maybe you read about sunflowers' incredible ability to track the sun in the New York Times last month (Link) and you know all about how, as these flowers grow, they seemingly chase the sun across the sky. They look towards the east in the morning and follow the sun's arc through the sky until it hits the western horizon. At night, these flowers reorient themselves eastward, waiting for the next day to arrive so that the process can begin again.

Source: nytimes.com, Hagop Atamian U.C. Davis

This seemingly magical trait is known as heliotropism (literally, "sun-turning") and many of our common garden plants exhibit it, causing them to move throughout the day in a cyclical motion. This group includes daylilies, poppies, marigolds, daisies, and morning glories, as well as cotton, alfalfa and soybeans. While not quite following a beat, the plants move according to circadian rhythm, a 24-hour cycle in which a plant synchronizes with the light cycle of its environment.

This evolutionary adaptation has its advantages: by maximizing solar exposure, plants can increase photosynthesis and increase visits from pollinators. Because flowers facing the sun will be warmer than those that do not, pollinators are more likely to visit these flowers and, in cold conditions, can actually utilize the heat to warm their wings before taking flight again.

So, next spring, consider adding some movement to your garden and observe these dancing plants first hand.