They can bend and twist to reach the sunlight…without muscles ?
In: Biology
Most plants don’t *move* per se. Instead, they *permanently alter their structure* (**tropism**) in an attempt to lean closer to light sources. This can be exploited to grow plants that spell letters or represent lines in an image.
**Rapid plant movement**, which is true and reversible movement *per se*, occurs in only a very small number of plants and is not fully understood:
* The venus flytrap snaps its “jaws” shut in about 1/10 of a second if two separate tickles are given to the trigger hairs within the jaws.
* *Mimosa pudica*’s leaves close when you touch them, opening back up a few minutes later. They also close in darkness and open back up in light.
* The white mulberry (*Morus alba*) has built-in slingshots that shoot pollen at about 350 mph / 560 km/h, which is around half the speed of sound.
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