The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth

Historically, consciousness has been associated with memory and the ability to make decisions from it. The word “intelligence” is derived from the Latin root interlegere, which means “to choose between.” In this chapter, Schlanger turns her attention to what plants do with the information they take in and whether they store it in something akin to memory. She opens with Nasa poissoniana, a plant studied by researcher Tilo Henning in Berlin. Henning observed that the plant had memories, although where those memories are stored remains a mystery.

Nasa poissoniana exhibits the ability to count and remember time intervals. Most flowers are highly protective of their pollen, calculating its release based on a variety of factors. To increase the spread of its pollen, a flower will dole out on a small bit at a time to pollinators. However, Nasa poissoniana can detect if there are fewer pollinators than normal in the environment and release large amounts of pollen to guarantee greater distribution. The plant will also dilute nectar, causing pollinators to make multiple visits, thereby further increasing the spread of pollen. Even more striking is how the plant tricks pollinators: A bee that finds no nectar in one flower will not investigate the plant’s other flowers, but Nasa poissoniana will shoot out additional pollen so the bee will still carry some away.