Life Movements in Plants, Volume IBose, Jagadis Chandra
Science
Life Movements in Plants, Volume I
Bose, Jagadis Chandra
Growth (Plants); Plants -- Irritability and movements
In _Mimosa_, the responsive movement is brought about by a sudden
diminution of turgor in the pulvinus. But very little is definitely
known about the responsive reaction in growing organs. Thus in a
tendril, one-sided contraction causes a shortening of the concave side
and a sudden increase of growth on the convex. No explanation of this
difference has hitherto been forthcoming. Under the action of light
of different intensities a growing organ may approach the source of
light, or place itself at right angles or move away from it. Again
under the identical stimulus of gravity, the root moves downwards,
and the shoot upwards. The sign of response in different organs thus
changes, apparently without any reason. It is thus seen, that there
is hardly any responsive movement that has been observed of which an
example directly to the contrary may not be found. For this reason it
has appeared hopeless to unify these very diverse phenomena, and there
has been a tendency towards a belief that it was not any definite
physiological reaction, but the individuality of the plant that
determines the choice of its movement.
The complexities which baffle us may, however, arise from the
combination of factors whose individual reactions are unknown to us. I
shall show, for example, how the movement of a pulvinus under a given
stimulus is determined by the point of application, direct stimulus
producing one effect, and indirect the diametrically opposite. The
normal reaction is again modified by the tonic condition of the plant.
There is again the likelihood of the presence of other modifying
factors. It is clear how very different the results would become by the
permutation and combination of these diverse factors.
For a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of plant movement,
it is therefore necessary to investigate in detail the effect
of a given stimulus under definite changes of the environmental
condition. With regard to a given stimulus we have to determine the
effects of intensity, of duration, and of the point of application.
The investigation has to include the effects exhibited not merely
by the pulvinated but also by growing organs. As a result of such
a comprehensive study, it may perhaps be possible to discover some
fundamental reaction operative in bringing about the responsive
movement in all plant organs.
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