In our view, no matter where fate throws plants, they can only take root there forever, cannot migrate, cannot actively seek food, cannot escape the ravages of locusts, and cannot find a hiding place when the storm hits. So, growing and surviving in unpredictable harsh environments, can plants perceive their surroundings and react accordingly? Scientists have found that although plants do not have noses, eyes, ears, mouths, and skin, they still have their own senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, and that the sensory world of plants is not fundamentally different from that of humans.
<h1>Vision of plants</h1>

What can plants "see"? The obvious answer is that they, like us, perceive light. Just as we perceive light through the light receptors of the eye, plants perceive the light and shade changes of light through stems and leaves, they are able to distinguish between red and blue, and can even see far infrared and ultraviolet rays that we cannot see in the spectrum. Plants can also distinguish which direction the light comes from, can distinguish the difference between the intensity and dimness of the light, and can determine how long the light time is.
Darwin had long discovered the phototropism of plants, and if they were "hungry" and eager for sunlight to feed, their growth direction would bend towards the sunny side.
Plants need to use photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar, and they use their ability to perceive light to obtain food.
Now we already know that the phototropins and photosensitive pigments possessed by plants are their "light control switches", which can detect the changes in light and shade of light, and after dark, plants begin to "rest", and after the sun rises, plants "wake up" and photosynthesis. Plants' optotropins and photosensitive pigments are not the same as the photoreceptors in animal eyes, but animals and plants share a type of photoreceptor called cryptochrome, which animals use to adjust the biological clock and biological cycle rhythm, and plants use the light signals it feels to adjust leaf orientation and photosynthesis.
<h1>The sense of smell of plants</h1>
All plants can sense odors, and plants can use their sense of smell to communicate with their peers. Studies have shown that plants are very sensitive to the smell of certain chemicals.
One is called silkworm seed
The parasitic vine can be called the "sniffing dog" of the plant world, this plant hardly contains the chlorophyll that most plants use for nutrients, so it must suck the sugar sap of other plants to obtain food and nutrients. It is precisely the use of smell to catch "prey", it can identify food sources according to smell, find favorite food, and at the same time distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of food according to smell, avoiding entanglement with unhealthy other plants.
The odor perception ability of the silk seed is outstanding among plants, and all other plants can also sense smell. Animals use odor receptors in their noses to identify odor molecules in the air, and plants also have receptors that sense volatile chemicals. So, what can they smell?
As early as the 1920s, American researchers have confirmed that allowing underripe fruit to "smell" ethylene gas will induce it to ripen. The ripe fruit itself also emits an ethylene smell, which spreads out and can speed up the ripening of nearby fruit "neighbors", and it is this reaction that makes the fruits ripen together. In addition, plants can also communicate with each other by emitting odors, such as a tree is attacked by a large number of caterpillars, it will emit a chemical odor to warn nearby trees, and nearby trees that smell this smell will quickly produce some chemicals that make their leaves unpalatable, thus avoiding damage from caterpillars.
<h1>Hearing of plants</h1>
As you may have heard, plants also have a preference for music. Some argue that if plants are allowed to "listen" to classical music, they will grow more vigorously. It has also been suggested that it is better to play heavy metal or jazz music for plants. It is worth noting that the musical "taste" of plants seems to coincide with the personal preferences of those who report these phenomena. Although research in this area has a long history, most of it has no credible scientific basis.
Although we can't be sure if plants will "listen" to music,
But the study found that plants may actually be able to "hear" the sounds made by other plants. Researchers recently recorded some of the ultrasounds that pine and oak trees emit during drought conditions, which they believe may be signaling to other trees to prepare them for drought. What scientists still don't know, though, is how plants produce and detect sound wave signals.
Taste of plants
The human sense of smell and taste is closely intertwined, and the sense of smell can affect the taste of our taste buds. From the physical structure of the body, our mouth is connected to the nasal cavity, and when we chew food, the nose is able to immediately smell the smell released by the food. The main difference between smell and taste is that the olfactory senses deal with volatile chemicals, while the taste senses process soluble chemicals.
Like humans, plants' senses of taste and smell are interrelated, except that plants use their sense of taste to sense dangers such as drought disasters, and even to identify their relatives. The response of plants to attacks by insects or disease-causing bacteria is the best proof of this. As we know, attacked plants emit a variety of volatile chemicals that send alarm messages to their "neighbors." An example of a taste-inducing effect on plants is methyl jasmonate, a compound that is a gas that travels efficiently through the air. When it forms a water-soluble jasmon acid that attaches to neighboring plants, the plants are able to generate a defensive response by receiving warning signals. Scientists believe that these warning messages are clearly transmitted to each other through the taste perception of water-soluble molecules.
The sense of touch of plants
The wind blows, the branches sway in the wind, insects gently climb over the leaves, the vines search and climb other plants by feeling... All of this, plants can feel. Plants live in a world they can feel. Plants can even perceive "cold" and "heat" so that they can adjust their growth rate and use of water according to changes in climate temperature and cold. Usually just touching or shaking a plant is enough to suppress its "desire" to grow, which is why vegetation growth is often not vigorous in places where the sea breeze is often blowing.
All plants can feel the effects of mechanical force to some extent, among which the most sensitive to touch is the carnivorous flycatcher,
When flies, beetles, and even small frogs climb onto their particularly shaped leaves, they will immediately perceive it and then unexpectedly close suddenly, taking their prey into their pockets. The flycatcher knows when to close its leaves, and as soon as the prey enters its "trap", it can immediately perceive it by touch and quickly close the leaves in less than 1/10 of a second, trapping the prey.
Although most plants do not respond to the touch as well as flycatchers, they perceive tactile stimuli in a similar way to flycatchers. What interests scientists most is that plants and animals use their sense of touch to perceive the outside world with the same proteins.