Do Plants Think and Feel?

“Plants can transmit information ‘from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems,’ BBC News wrote.” Scientific American examines the implications of this observation. “Because certain types of plant cells have some features in common with nerve cells—they are arranged in tubular bundles, they harbor ion channels in their membranes—some botanists have suggested that plants propagate action potentials along connected networks of these cells, akin to signaling in an animal’s nervous system. But most botanists agree that plants don’t have networks of cells that have evolved specifically for rapid electrical signaling across long distances, as most animals do. Plants simply don’t have true nervous systems.”