Have you heard of ‘sunflowers dancing’? A report in a national newspaper sent me off investigating.
A study carried out by a team led by Yasmine Meroz at Tel Aviv University discovered that what appeared to be random movements within groups of plants can lead to self-organising patterns that optimise growing conditions.
The team delved deeper into the exploration of self-organisation. This is a process whereby a system that starts out in a disorderly state can gain order through its interactions between its individual components.
They discovered that groups of sunflowers move in a coordinated fashion to ensure they are all in the sun and no sunflower is shadowed by another.
“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,” said lead researcher Prof. Yasmine Meroz from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University.
The study was published in the journal Physical Review X.
There is a field of sunflowers and wild flowers on Seaford Head. To see them turn right at South Hill Barn towards the golf course. These have been planted as winter bird food crop. A flock of sparrows were swirling above the crop this afternoon and although I couldn’t see it I could hear a linnet calling. If you do choose to visit the sunflowers please take note of the sign below.
Celebrating Seaford 