Plants have feelings, too - plant responses to mechanical stimuli
We all know this example: the mimosa pudica's fast reaction to touch.
In response to a mechanical stimulus a reaction chain is started in the pulvinus cells, leading to a change in turgor pressure. This is about the same mechanism in Dionaea muscipula (venus flytrap), but more complex. See here for more about venus flytrap.
But there's more. Plants respond to touch, but we don't really know how they do it. The role of plant hormones is not to be underestimated. Last thing I read was about jasmonate, a hormone that regulates the plant's growth in response to touch. Not only that: jasmonate increases the plant's resistance to pests, like fungal infections and moth larvae.
Plants can also smell! Cuscuta, a family of parasitic plants, can 'smell' their prey as you can see in this video. It 'sniffs' its way to the tomato plant, to eventually suck out the vital juices. In further research they discovered that Cuscuta is even picky, preferring the juiciest tomato plants. In Daniel Chamovitz's book 'what a plant knows' you can even find more examples. Book excerpt here.
I think there's a lot more to find out about plant senses, and especially about how they react to certain stimuli. Plant hormones play a big role here. We've adapted lots of technologies from animals and we still do. It's time to think in the same way about plants because I'm sure we can find as much applications in plants.
De Moraes, dodder plant research
