Sunflowers ‘Dance’ To Optimize Sunlight Exposure In Collective Growth Strategy‌ ‌

The researchers from Tel Aviv University examined the question of how sunflowers “know” to grow in an optimal way. JORGEN HENDRIKSEN VIA UNSPLASH.

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TEL AVIV-YAFO, Israel — Sunflowers really do “dance” as they grow so as not to block solar rays from each other, reveals new research.

The study sheds light on a scientific puzzle that has occupied researchers since the days of Charles Darwin.

Researchers discovered that plants that grow in dense environments – where each plant casts a shadow on its neighbor – find a “collective solution” with the help of random movements that help them find the best growth directions.

The study by scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel, working with colleagues at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the United States sheds light on a puzzle that has occupied researchers since Darwin, namely the functional role of such inherent movements called circumnutations.

Study leader Professor Yasmine Meroz, from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security at Tel Aviv University, said: “Previous studies have shown that if sunflowers are densely planted in a field where they shade each other they grow in a zigzag pattern – one forward and one back – so as not to be in each other’s shadow.

“This way they grow side by side to maximize illumination from the sun, and therefore photosynthesis, on a collective level.

“In fact, plants know how to distinguish between the shadow of a building and the green shadow of a leaf.

“If they sense the shadow of a building – they usually don’t change their growth direction, because they ‘know’ that will have no effect.