Mimosa Pudica Research Paper

It has been said by many scientists that it is impossible for plants to learn and associate. Intelligence has been left to the realm of animals, specifically human beings. For years it has been nonsensical to state that a plant could develop humanlike cognition. Could something considered inanimate by so many have a mind? Could a plant respond to an unconditioned or conditioned stimulus in the manner of a dog, cat, or person? For example, could a mild stream of of air from a fan, set to go off daily during a natural function of a specific plant species, cause the plant to associate the stimulus with its response to other stimuli?
Movement has been confined almost entirely to the animal kingdom, but a several plants have been shown to move. One of the most well known, is the Mimosa Pudica plant. When fully grown it has stems growing up the original plant stalk, each with sets of leaves growing on both sides. The leaves, when healthy, are a bright green, but when dying or infested by insects, they turn yellow. The plant flowers yearly, growing a purple bud, which proceeds to bloom, in the span of approximately a month. Mimosa Pudica has also been shown to …show more content…
Only touching certain areas can trigger the response. (Also leaves closing.) Touching the leaves specifically allows for plant movement, by causing a series of seismic shockwaves invisible to the naked eye. These shockwaves are transmitted down the leaf and stem through the sieve tubes (“Physiology of plant movements,” n.d.). Sieve tubes are a network of sieve elements, that connect throughout the plant. Each sieve element lacks a nucleus, so it cannot sustain itself without an ever present companion cell (“The Phloem,” n.d.). Seismic waves travel through these tubes, altering the entirety of a plant to a threat in less than two seconds, changing auxin levels once again within the pulvinus. (“Physiology of plant movements,”