What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses

How  does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? Can it actually feel an  insect's tiny, spindly legs? And how do cherry blossoms know when to  bloom? Can they actually remember the weather?

For  centuries we have collectively marveled at plant diversity and form―from  Charles Darwin's early fascination with stems to Seymour Krelborn's  distorted doting in Little Shop of Horrors. But now, in What a Plant Knows,  the renowned biologist Daniel Chamovitz presents an intriguing and  scrupulous look at how plants themselves experience the world―from the  colors they see to the schedules they keep. Highlighting the latest  research in genetics and more, he takes us into the inner lives of  plants and draws parallels with the human senses to reveal that we have  much more in common with sunflowers and oak trees than we may realize.  Chamovitz shows how plants know up from down, how they know when a  neighbor has been infested by a group of hungry beetles, and whether  they appreciate the Led Zeppelin you've been playing for them or if  they're more partial to the melodic riffs of Bach. Covering touch,  sound, smell, sight, and even memory, Chamovitz encourages us all to  consider whether plants might even be aware of their surroundings.

A rare inside look at what life is really like for the grass we walk on, the flowers we sniff, and the trees we climb, What a Plant Knows offers us a greater understanding of science and our place in nature.