Is a plant's interior ever "still"?

Considering that the insides of a plant, like an animal, play host to a constant mechanism of growth, with nutrients being transported this way and that, and with various biomolecules such as chlorophyll at work within the leaves, can we assume that a plant is to some degree always "busy" even during the night, when of course it ceases to photosynthesize but when it still "respires" and takes in oxygen? Is this also true even during a plant's dormant season - when we can see maybe last year's wood but no current growth, or maybe just an underground caudex? If the plant is in its flowering season, I would like to ask the same question about its flowering parts.

In short: on my window sill right now are various herbs, most in either seedling stage or out of their flowering season. When I look at one of these, a licorice seedling in a plastic pot, in the darkness at this time of night, should I assume that everything within that plant is inactive and still? Or should I assume that, just like in a human being's body, there arevarious life-sustaining "ingredients" being pumped around internally?

Thanks.

 

Hey Simon,

For someone that don't come on here often, you sure ask some good questions

Very deep.

Now we know the seed has the ability to stay dormant for 2,000 years or possibly more (The date seed from Masada)

But thats a good one about the living plant

Going to have a Fagg and a think about that Back in 5:runhills:

 

I'm inclined to think that during the summer a plant would still be active at night with the gaseous exchange going on and the pressure needed to support the soft green tissues of the cells.

However, in winter, when the nutrients have been withdrawn into the rootstock, the upper portions of the plant are mostly inert tannins and lignins so I guess there is not much activity going on then.

Best answer I can come up with at this time on a saturday night

 

Hi there Ziggy, thanks for replying to the post.

 

Simon - I suspect that the answer is no. A plant is always active in one way or another.

Certainly its active at night, as you say. Sunlight for photosynthesis is needed to create the plant food, of starches and sugars, during the day. Its my understanding that these are then transported to all parts of the plant on a 24 hour basis, where they are burnt (transpiration) to produce the energy for plant growth and to make some of the more complex compounds. As the transpiration only needs oxygen for the burning process and doesn't need sunlight, I assume it continues at night and for as long as the supply of plant food holds out. For instance you can sent cuttings through the post which are deprived of light for several days. If you deprive a plant of sunlight for a long period. I assume that what kills the plant is not the lack of sunlight per se, but the lack of starches and sugars. If you were to put the plant on a drip feed (as in hospital) I suspect it would grow for a long time in the dark. At one time I used to measure the height of some Echiums, on a daily basis, and I noticed that they put on as much height overnight as they did during the day.

I think that I have also read that during the time that bulbs appear to be dormant, they are really doing some housekeeping in preparation for the next flowering season.

However I believe that there are a few plants that are capable of going almost totally dormant. The Jade plant (Crassula) is one. The stomata are capable of totally closing it it doesn't get any water, consequently its one the the few plants that can survive without any water for months. However its probably still ticking over very slowly using any water stored in its leaves. Its perhaps no different from any cactus.

 

Just to add an extra level of depth to this, lets ask where the boundaries of the plant are.

A lot of plants are nothing without the symbiotic relationship they form with certain micro-organisms and fungi, to the extent that some plants actually nurture specific bacteria in their roots for the sole purpose of producing food, much as us animal sorts have bacteria in our guts that fend off disease and break down certain compounds to release nutrients.

I guess these micro-organisms remain active as long as they live, day or night, regardless of season.

As these symbiotic relationships are two way, with the plant supplying sugars and various chemicals in return for nitrates and phosphates and who know what else, I guess the plant must be doing something too, otherwise the soil would become useless dead inorganic matter every winter.

If a plant ever really had a truly dormant spell, then surely the soil organisms that didn't would just eat the roots of the plants over winter. We know that can't happen otherwise perennials would never get established, and something as large and slow as a tree wouldn't stand a chance.

So, without any scientific expertise to back up my logic, I claim that plants (excluding annuals) are permanently active to some extent.

 

They must be active all the time otherwise you could pull them up chuck them in a heap and replant in the season and they would grow
We know this does not happen so they must be alive and working away imho

Jack McH (Royal Naval College of Knowledge VD and Scar)

 

Good point, but when you uproot any plant, you inevitably and unavoidably bust off a lot of the fine 'feeder' hairs from the roots, thus injuring the plant critically. Most of the roots we can see when we lift a plant are, I believe, the main arteries, and there for structural support. A bit like our carotid artery, we don't want to lose that (obviously - certain death very quick if we do), but its pretty useless if not for the many, many finer arteries and veins that go off to everything else. Or another way to look at it, the M1 is no use at all if you close all the A roads leading to it and the B roads leading them.

 

Wow, I'm amazed by the many profound and well thought out answers here! Thanks, its certainly helped me to understand this complex subject a little better.

 

Do you think that you yourself are still 'active' when you are sleeping?
I reckon the answer to that is 'yes'
I also reckon that the same answer applies to all living organisms including your herbs

 

Surely the only time any living organism is inactive, is when it dead?

An hibernating animal still has things going on inside, so why should a plant be any different.

Infact a plant takes things one stage further and can still live once severed from it roots.

 

Sorry Pete, I can't see that a plant can live on without it's roots. It surely just goes into a slow 'shut down' until it finally perishes.

 

Never grown anything from cuttings then Sheal:WINK1:

 

Point taken Pete.......but even a cutting would only live for so long without roots.

 

Good point Pete .... the cutting, in its desire to stay alive, fights hard to grow new roots and then develop. Similar to our ability to heal a wound and some animals even to be able to replace parts of their body
All complex stuff .... now why was I made to think so early in the morning LOL