How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth
Published in 2024, The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger has received many accolades. To name just a few, it was a New Yorker Best Book of the Year, Time Magazine Top 10 Nonfiction Book of the Year, Smithsonian 10 Best Science Books of the Year, Best Book of the Year by Scientific American, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and Boston Globe. In addition, it was long listed for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
This book was a fascinating and engaging read. If you are interested in the emerging science surrounding plants, it’s definitely a must read. The author makes scientific papers about plants both approachable and understandable. Not only does she simplify scientific papers for the layperson, Ms. Schlanger has travelled around the world interviewing scientists who have published groundbreaking papers on plant abilities. The author even makes a brave foray into the Chilean jungle with researchers searching for a vine that possesses the capabilities of a chameleon. When growing beside another plant, Boquila trifoliata can mimic the size, shape, colour and characteristics of the nearby plant’s leaves and stems.
Ms. Schlanger delves into fascinating aspects of current research, such as do plants have consciousness? She summarizes research about the myriad ways in which plants communicate with each other, how plants chemically respond to touch, and how they appear to hear the approach of a pollinator, or respond to the sound of a chewing caterpillar. Scientific studies show that some plants have the ability to mark time and they have sufficient memory to enable them to anticipate a pollinator’s arrival. Another study showed that plants can recognize their kin and, when growing in close quarters, they are careful to arrange their leaves to avoid casting shade on their relatives.
While the scientists Schlanger interviewed were not comfortable characterizing these abilities as plant intelligence, she concludes that it is clear plants possess some form of agency that helps them interact with their surroundings. I highly recommend this book, even if you are not a lover of plants. I came away amazed at how little we really know about the secret life of plants. I look forward to future research and I hope Zoe writes a sequel to keep us all abreast of new scientific developments.
by Elizabeth Spedaliere, Tri-County Master Gardener
