Do plants ever move?
Plants are moving all the time. But they move so slowly we just don’t
notice these movements.
Instead of moving from one place to another, as animals do, plants move
by growing. As a plant grows, it twists and stretches, turning its
leaves to the light.
Some vines wind around a tree as they grow. Other vines, such as the
grape or sweet pea, grow little arms called tendrils. These little arms
reach out and wrap themselves around sticks or poles that people put
nearby to help the vines grow.
Many flowers move their petals. They open them wide in the morning and
close them tight at night. The leaves of some plants do this, too.
As the sun begins to rise, the day lily flower begins to open.
Moving very slowly, the day lily petals open.
Some plants have seeds and fruits that move. The witch hazel shoots its
seeds out when they are ripe. The slim, dry fruit of porcupine grass has
a long, sharp, twisted tail. In wet weather, when the ground is soft,
the tail untwists and pushes the sharp, pointed fruit into the ground.
A jumping bean is a plant seed that seems to move by itself. But it
doesn’t, really. One kind of moth lays its eggs in the beans—one egg
in each bean. The egg hatches into a little caterpillar that uses the
inside of the bean for food. Sometimes the caterpillar hooks its legs
into the bean and jerks its body as hard as it can. This is what makes
the bean hop.
It has taken the day lily an hour and a half to open this much.
After about three hours, the day lily is all the way open.
