Chinese Journal of Nature ›› 2018, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (6): 391-399.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2018.06.001

• Invited Special Paper •     Next Articles

How plants see

DENG Xingwang   

  1. School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • Received:2018-03-13 Online:2018-12-25 Published:2018-12-21

Abstract:

Animals and plants were formed in their present states during the long-term evolution of life on the earth. Generally, animals can perceive light by their eyes, and then convert the information from the light to electrical impulses for their brains to interpret what they have seen and how to react. Furthermore, animals can move autonomously according to the changed environments or to their own requirement. Plants are distinct from animals in their development and their lifestyle, they do not have eyes and brain, and they live in one place throughout the life without the ability to move by themselves. However, plants have their own advantages. They have exuberant vitality and strong fertility, and can live up to several thousand even tens of thousands years, which is never achieved for animals. Besides making the earth rich and colorful, plants also provide food for animal life. Although they can not move, plant can make sense of the
complex world, and there are competition and cooperation between different plant species. Magically, without eyes, plant can also see the light including those wavelength of light which we can not see, and can response to different light period.