MadSci Network: Botany |
There is actually a webpage that addresses this claim (see first reference). Plants do not have a nervous system; they lack the brain, spinal cord and neurons that we have. A google.com image search for "human nervous system" produces many illustrations of the human nervous system. However, an image search for "plant nervous system" produces no such illustrations. The few websites that use the term "nervous system" to refer to plants often place it in quotes, which indicates that it is a stretch to use the term for plants. However, plants are very sophisticated at sensing and responding to many environmental factors such as light, gravity and touch. They sense and respond using a variety of chemical compounds and, in some cases, electrical signaling. Wounded plants can respond to the damage by sealing off the damaged section with new cells but they do not feel pain. The bestselling book, The Secret Life of Plants, claimed that plants preferred different kinds of music, could communicate with people and even identify a murderer. Real botanists consider such claims false and label them as pseudoscience. Claims that plants feel pain would be considered pseudoscience. References Broccoli vs. Animals? Re: do plants have emotional feelings? Pseudoscience
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