Your Land & Water for August 2026
- jhansen49
- Aug 15
- 6 min read
Do Plants Really "Talk"?
Did you know that scientific studies have confirmed that plants really communicate?
As described in a Science Insights article, “What plants actually do is something arguably more interesting [than what animals do]: they’ve evolved an elaborate, multi-channel system of chemical, electrical and possibly acoustic signaling that coordinates defense, shares resources and shapes entire ecosystems, all without a single neuron.”
Airborne Chemicals
The most studied plant/tree communication method is plant emissions of volatile organic chemicals, or VOCs – airborne compounds that evaporate and are produced as plant/tree defenses or as pollinator attractors. These volatile compounds have many different functions. In addition to drawing pollinators to them, volatiles from fruits attract organisms that will eat and distribute seeds. But they are basically indicators of stress. When you encounter freshly cut grass, you are smelling a plant message – a distress signal., although a fragrant one to our noses.
When a plant/tree is attacked by insects, it releases a chemical cocktail calibrated in a specific concentration and ratio of mixed chemicals that can, in turn, be detected by neighboring plants, which can pick up this signal and increase their own defensive response to stave off an attack. Corn plants that were exposed to a particular compound from damaged neighboring stalks began producing defensive chemicals before they, too, were assaulted, and then released volatiles of their own.
“Calling out” for backup help is an even more amazing way that plants utilize VOCs. By releasing certain chemical compounds they can recruit particular insects that prey on insect species, such as caterpillars or beetles, that are feeding on the plant. The customized chemical serves as a long-distance beacon that alerts the enemies of the plant’s enemies to belly up for a meal. Ladybird beetles, for example, are strongly attracted to the scent of cotton plants being fed on by herbivorous (plant-eating) insects, and can distinguish these chemical cries for help from the scent being emitted by the as-yet undamaged plants.
Chemical signaling enables a certain level of cooperative behavior too. Plants can coordinate actions, such as flowering or defense, based on the number of nearby plants. This synchronization can enhance pollination success and collective defense strategies.
The Underground Fungal Network
A completely different system of communication occurs under the soil of a plant/tree, through the fungus network that exists there. The body of a mushroom-type of fungus is made up of thin microscopic threads, called hyphae that, together, make up the body (mycelium) of the fungus. (The above-ground mushrooms sprouting on the forest floor are the spore-dispersing fruiting structures of a fungus.) In about 90% of all land plants, certain fungi live within or around the roots of the plants/trees and form a symbiotic relationship that brings mineral nutrients to the plant. In exchange, the fungus receives nutrients formed by the plant through photosynthesis. The fungal mycelium can connect one plant/tree to another, in what is called a mycorrhizal network. This network links plants/trees together and enables sharing of nutrients and chemical messages. It is rather like the human internet in which information as well as resources are shared. Some botanists are even referring to it as the “wood-wide web.”
A tree in a forest will form relationships with many different fungi, and one fungus will have relationships with many different trees—connecting them in the mycorrhizal network,” says Cathie Aime, professor of mycology at Purdue University and rotating program director at the National Science Foundation. “When multiple trees are connected by one fungus, they can share resources such as carbon, which has been traced going through an older “nurse” tree via fungal networks to another, younger tree that's too young to get a good source of light for photosynthesis. “
These subterranean networks are primarily nutrient pathways. They transport nitrogen and phosphorus between plants/trees, sometimes moving resources from well-supplied individuals to those in poorer soil. But they also carry defense signals. When a plant/tree in the network becomes infected by a pathogen, its
near neighbors receive chemical cues through the fungal threads, which triggers their release of higher levels of defensive hormones, even before the pathogen reaches them. Researchers have confirmed this in dozens of species and that it works across species boundaries. A diseased plant of one species can send warning signals to a healthy plant of a completely different species via their shared fungal connections.
Electrical and Acoustic Signals
Plants/trees also communicate internally using electrical pulses. When a leaf is wounded, or sometimes just touched, an electrical signal can travel through the plant’s tissues to its distant leaves, generating defensive responses throughout the whole organism. These signals can travel through tissues at surprising speeds. In the Venus flytrap, for example, these electrical signals travel at roughly 200 millimeters (8 inches) per second, which is fast enough to snap the trap shut on an insect.
In a 2023 study published in Cell, researchers placed tomato and tobacco plants in acoustic chambers and recorded the ultrasonic sounds emitted by stressed plants – clicks and pops at frequencies too high for human ears to detect. Plants that were dehydrated, or had their stems cut, produced these sounds, while healthy, well-watered plants nearby were mostly silent. These sounds travel through the air and can be heard by moths, mammals such as bats and mice, and other insects. Experiments have shown that moths hearing the clicks use them to select healthy plants on which to lay eggs.
As measured by their growth and health in music experiments, plants seem to prefer classical music over electronic music and rock and roll! Who knew!!
Root Conversations
Plant roots are constantly secreting chemicals, called exudates, into the surrounding soil, that carry information about local conditions to neighboring plants. These exudates include sugars, amino acids, and secondary metabolites that can attract beneficial microbes or deter harmful ones. In addition, they can alter the local soil chemistry, affecting nutrient availability for neighboring plants.
These signals appear to be widespread across the plant kingdom rather than limited to particular species. Root exudates also play a role in allelopathy, in which one plant suppresses the growth of another via chemical means, giving it a competitive advantage.
Some plants seem to be capable of “kin recognition” wherein they can distinguish between the roots of related and unrelated individuals, based on chemical cues, and modify their growth to compete less aggressively with relatives. Even flowering time
and crop productivity in mixed plantings are influenced in this way, which can have an impact on agricultural production.
Plant Predator Adaptations
Many herbivores, whether insect or mammal, have evolved methods to overcome the defenses that plants have developed. The corn plant, for example, produces fewer chemical signals at night because making the chemical substance requires photosynthesis, which requires light. Thus, corn has lower defenses at night. This, in turn, has forced caterpillars to develop a new strategy. To survive, they have shifted their principal feeding on the plant to nighttime.
Another great example comes from African savannas. When a giraffe starts chewing on the leaves of the wide-crowned umbrella thorn acacia tree, the tree notices the injury and emits a distress signal in the form of ethylene gas. Upon detecting this gas, neighboring acacias start pumping tannins into their leaves. In large enough quantities these compounds can sicken or even kill large herbivores.
Giraffes are aware of this, however, having evolved with acacias, and this is why they browse into the wind, so the warning gas doesn’t reach the trees ahead of them. If there’s no wind, a giraffe will typically walk 100 yards— farther than ethylene gas can travel in still air—before feeding on the next acacia.
Studies have established that plant communication really exists. Plants/trees react to forces by emitting chemicals, electrical impulses, and sounds, which have developed as strategies for survival because plants cannot move away from negative impacts in their environment. However, unlike with animals, these complex tools are not deliberative or intentional. That is, plants/trees are not “intending” to alert neighbors, or to call in anti-predator assistance, or to share information. These are evolutionary responses. However, even if there is no actual “talking,” these characteristics and behaviors do enable forests and grasslands to function as integrated superorganisms, and there does seem to be a lot of “chatter” going on!
By Suzanne McCarthy
Sources:
Britannica
Form and Function of Fungi
www.britannica.com › science › fungus
Complete Gardening
20 Weird Ways Plants Communicate with Each Other
Jasmine Hughes. January 27, 2025
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Plants can talk. Yes, really. Here’s how.
Wikipedia – Plant communication
October, 2021.
ScienceNotes
Fungi – Definition, Examples, Characteristics
Posted on May 8, 2024 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on June 13, 2026)
SCIENCEINSIGHTS
Do Plants Talk to Each Other? Here’s What Science Says. March 7, 2026.
Science Times
Plant Communication Through Mycorrhizal Networks: An Underground Signaling System
By Renz Soliman. Jan 26, 2026.
Peter Wohlleben; Suzanne Simard; Tim Flannery (2016). The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World. Translated by Jane Billinghurst. Greystone Books.
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