Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

CrowdScience

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe

We take your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontiers of knowledge.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

CrowdScience: Do climbing plants know where they’re going?

Discussion & Talk

GettyImages-1173303832 _crop.jpg

03/03/2023 GMT

Do climbing plants know where they’re going?

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Do climbing plants know where they’re going?

Marnie Chesterton finds out how clever climbing plants are.

CrowdScience listener Eric has noticed his wisteria growing towards a neighbouring tree. He thinks that it knows where it’s going. Marnie Chesterton discovers if he’s right.

CrowdScience listener Eric, in New Zealand, has noticed his wisteria growing towards a neighbouring tree. He thinks that it actually knows where it’s going. But how can a plant have a sense of direction?

Plants don’t have the advantage of brains or eyes, but that doesn’t seem to stop them from being clever enough to find out from their environment where to move and how to get there – all while being rooted to the spot.

Marnie Chesterton visits the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens in London, home to the largest collection of living plants in the world, to discover how plants make their manoeuvres, and talks to botanists and plant biologists for the latest findings on the mysterious life of climbing plants.

Featuring:

Dr Mariane Sousa-Baena, School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University
Dr Ilia Leitch, Senior Research Leader, Kew Gardens
Tom Freeth, Head of Plant Records, Kew Gardens
Dr Silvia Guerra, Neuroscience of Movement Laboratory, Padua University
Professor Christian Fankhauser, Centre for Integrative Genomics, Lausanne University
Dr Sandra Knapp, Merit Researcher, Natural History Museum

Accessibility links

Programme Index

CrowdScience

Do climbing plants know where they’re going?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service