Animals have a nervous system for controlling and coordinating the activities of the body. But plants have neither a nervous system nor muscles. So, how do they respond to stimuli? When we touch the leaves of a chhui-mui (the ‘sensitive’ or ‘touch-me-not’ plant of the Mimosa family), they begin to fold up and droop. When a seed germinates, the root goes down, the stem comes up into the air. What happens? Firstly, the leaves of the sensitive plant move very quickly in response to touch.
There is no growth involved in this movement. On the other hand, the directional movement of a seedling is caused by growth. If it is prevented from growing, it will not show any movement. So plants show two different types of movement – one dependent on growth and the other independent of growth
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