How Does a Plant Know to Grow Toward the Light?

Plants use a kind of superpower to sense where the light is. Imagine you're playing hide and seek, and you can feel when someone moves closer, that's like how plants work. They have special cells called photoreceptors that detect light. When they get more light on one side, those cells send signals down to the roots, telling them to grow toward it.

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A sunflower turns its face to follow the sun throughout the day, like it's waving hello.
  2. A plant in a window grows toward the light, even if it's just a small beam coming through the glass.
  3. If you place a plant on a table and shine a flashlight from one side, it will slowly bend towards that light.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity

Nothing here yet.