A Mind Without A Brain: The Science Of Plant Intelligence Takes Root

Do plants have a mind? "My work is not about metaphors at all," says Monica Gagliano. "When I talk about learning, I mean learning. When I talk about memory, I mean memory." Gagliano, an evolutionary ecologist, is talking about plants. She's adopted methods from behavioral experiments used to test animal intelligence and found that plants respond in a similar manner. The results of her research suggest plants might possess intelligence, memory and learning, although the mechanisms at play may be fundamentally different from those of humans and animals. Her book "Thus Spoke the Plant" will be out this fall. She's received equal amounts of attention and criticism from colleagues and the media. Her work was introduced to the public in an in-depth primer on plant intelligence that came out in The New Yorker in 2013 called, Intelligent Plant.