Re-contemplate an entangled bank: the "Power of Movement in Plants" revisited

Abstract

We review the ways in which two of Charles Darwin's lesser known works, The Movement and Habit of Twining Plants and The Power of Movement in Plants, stimulated 20th and 21st century research findings and philosophies. The legacy of Darwin's work permeates research on plant movement. For example, Darwin's demonstration that coleoptiles and roots fail to bend in response to light or gravity if their tips are removed helped researchers work toward the discovery of auxin and other plant hormones. Darwin's methodical observations on vine twining directions and circumnutation foreshadowed the recent discovery that 92% of vines twine in right-handed helices, regardless of their location on the planet. Finally, Darwin's observation of the similarity between plant responses to stimuli and the responses of lower animals foreshadowed the current debate over whether plants have `behaviour'. Thus, even Darwin's lesser-known works continue to influence research in the present day.