Daniel Chamovitz on what plants know

In "What a Plant Knows," biologist Daniel Chamovitz uses plant research to explain how plants survive, adapt and react to their surrounding environment.

Chamovitz looks at how Venus flytraps know when to shut on potential meals and how flowers know it's time to bloom in the spring. And how much do humans have in common with plants?

"Most people who read the book and hear about the book, they're expecting that I'm saying that plants are just little people and that's really anthropomorphizing things, but yeah, it's a bizarre concept," he said. "These are hard things to hear - that plants smell, hear and feel."

Chamovitz will join The Daily Circuit Monday to discuss his new book and the latest plant research.

"Plants remember, if they've been through a drought they remember and they have learned to adapt and deal with the drought from the last time they saw it," he said. "Think about the first time you got into a car and think about when you made it happen, you learned to drive, you remember that and you continued to remember how to drive. A plant learns how to shrink its roots, how to live on less, when that drought comes again."

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