Some good examples of plants that don't mind gentle touches are jade plants, Aloe, and Peace Lilies. Outdoor plants are more used to contact with rain, wind, or other 'touching' stressors, inevitably occurring when a plant lives outside. However, it doesn't mean that those green pets enjoy being handled.
More commonly known as the sensitive plant or touch-me-not plant, Mimosa pudica is a tropical shrub that closes its leaves when touched. The plant is native to Central and South America and features delicate, fern-like leaves with light purple pom-pom-shaped flowers. It's part of the legume family Fabaceae.
sensitive plant, (Mimosa pudica), also called humble plant, plant in the pea family (Fabaceae) that responds to touch and other stimulation by rapidly closing its leaves and drooping.
The Washington State University-led study included a team of international researchers. PULLMAN, Wash. — A study out of Washington State University found plants can sense when they're being touched, even though they don't have nerves.
Creating a garden you can touch
Many ornamental grasses, such as hare's tail grass, have fluffy flower heads. While the blossoms on some plants, such as hibiscus, gardenia, and most lilies, feel silky to the touch.
Sensory garden plants can delight all five of our senses. A backyard filled with these will have visual appeal, beautiful scent, enchanting sound when their leaves shift in the breeze, and interesting textures. Plus, of course, some of these choices – including both edible flowers and herbs – please our sense of taste.
While flowers and other members of the plant kingdom seem not to complain when we pinch their buds or step on them, they are fully aware of what's happening and rapidly respond to the way they're treated, scientists have discovered.
New research has also shown that music can help plants grow
Like people, plants enjoy listening to music, while different plants prefer different genres. Classical music is most effective on the growth of roses, while chrysanthemums thrive after just 30 minutes of play.
Do Plants React to Human Voices? Here's the good news: plants do respond to the sound of your voice. In a study conducted by the Royal Horticultural Society, research demonstrated that plants did respond to human voices.
It can be viewed, in fact, as a crucial subcortical portion of the plant brain. For their neural networks to function and demonstrate consciousness, plants use virtually the same neurotransmitters we do, including the two most important: glutamate and GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid).
Given that plants do not have pain receptors, nerves, or a brain, they do not feel pain as we members of the animal kingdom understand it. Uprooting a carrot or trimming a hedge is not a form of botanical torture, and you can bite into that apple without worry.
The flowers of Spilanthes have earned it the name “toothache plant” for their numbing and pain-relieving effects. Spilanthes has also been noted to stimulate taste and improve saliva flow.
The consensus is that plants do not have ears or hearing ability as we know it. Instead, plants can feel noise from the vibrations that acoustic sounds make. Plants in numerous studies that were exposed to sound behaved differently than those that weren't.
You know that last bit of coffee that always seems to be left in the carafe? Don't just pour it down the drain — you can use it to fertilize your plants, both indoor and outdoor. Coffee grounds (and brewed coffee) are a source of nitrogen for plants, producing healthy green growth and strong stems.
Soothing, soft music, such as a lullaby, has been argued to make the plant grow the fastest, with some researches even suggesting that plants will lean into the source of the sound. Other studies have shown that loud, fast, and fiercely intense music can actually cause the plant to wilt and die.
There are many studies that verify that plant growth is influenced by sound. Many found that at the average human conversational tone (70 decibels) there was increased production in plants. Not only will your plants benefit from your conversations but you may get a psychological boost as well.
They conducted all sorts of experiments with plants – playing music, talking to plants, vibrations, etc. But their findings were discredited. Now fast forward nearly 50 years, and it has never been scientifically proven that plants have feelings.
“Plants definitely respond to vibrations in their environment — which can cause plants to grow differently and become more resistant to falling over,” says Heidi Appel, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
It is a cycad. Cycads are a very old order of tree. They've been on the planet for roughly 280 million years, but this one is special—in a bite-your-lip kind of way. Richard Fortey, one of the world's great biologists, calls it “Surely … the most solitary organism in the world.”
Always at the top of the list for natural anxiety busters, lavender is the source of one of the most popular essential oils and boasts many benefits when inhaled, such as improvement in short-term memory, stress relief and relaxation. Its floral smell is effective at decreasing anxiety and providing a calm atmosphere.
Tomato and tobacco plants were the main focus of the study as they are relatively easy to grow in a laboratory, but the team also recorded other plants. 'We found that many plants - corn, wheat, grape, and cactus plants, for example - emit sounds when they are stressed,' explains Lilach.
While no one claims that plants “feel” emotions, as humans do, plants do show signs of “sensing” their surroundings. Now researchers are working to see what we can discover about the possibility that plants exhibit intelligence in their adaptations to their environment and changes within it.