Plant Intelligence: An Overview

Plant intelligence is inextricably linked with fitness. Barbara McClintock, a plant biologist, posed the notion of the “thoughtful cell” in her Nobel Prize address. The systems structure of a simple nervous system is similar to those of individual cells. The plant root cap, acting holistically in responding to numerous signals, likely possesses a similar systems structure. Intelligent decisions are constantly required to optimize the plant phenotype to a dynamic environment, and the cambium is the assessing tissue controlling branch activity through root resource control. Spontaneity in plant behavior, the ability to count to five, and error correction indicate intention. Volatile organic compounds are used as signals in plant interactions and may be the equivalent of language accounting for self- and alien-recognition. Game theory describes intelligent competitive and cooperative interactions. Profiting from experience requires both learning and memory and is indicated in the priming of herbivory, disease, and abiotic stresses.