Since the time of Theophrastus (371-287BC, the father of botanical science, student of Aristotle) plants have been considered to be essentially passive organisms, enduring whatever the environment throws at them or, if unable to endure, dying from environmental stress.
Plants, it was assumed, had few or no ways to adapt actively to the ever-fluctuating forces of their environment. Whatever adaptations they could muster were simply autonomic responses, that is responses that could not be modified by the plant to improve the plant’s adaptation to a particular stress.
Over recent decades, however, a revolution has been occurring in Botany. Botanists are recognizing that plants can detect and respond in adaptive ways to a very wide range of environmental stimuli. Some daring botanists are even beginning to speak about plant intelligence (very much to the dismay of traditionalists).
This course will explore this ongoing revolution and reveal the incredible ability of plants to sense, interpret, and respond to signals from the environment in adaptive and creative ways.
Presenter: Michael Healey
Dates: Tuesdays: Nov 24, Dec 1, 8, 15
Times: 10am to noon
Venue: In-person at the Gibsons Public Market
NOTE: This course is also offered on Zoom
