By Lois Scott, Master Gardener

During the gardening season you may find yourself wondering about how plants work.  This quick garden jeopardy game is just the thing to answer some of those burning questions you may have.

This plant pigment acts as a sunscreen for plants, is a powerful antioxidant protecting plants from various environmental stressors and due to its mobility in water it can transport important substances to parts of the plant that need them.  This pigment is responsible for a temporary condition called juvenile reddening. It acts as a sunscreen for tender young leaves.  It may also help young leaves hang onto their water during expansion.  What are Anthocyanins?

This plant hormone controls rooting, stem elongation and directional growth.  It is why shoots grow towards the light and roots grow down.  If a sun-loving plant is suffering in too little light it will have sparse leaves that are larger and paler than normal, leggy (etiolated) stems and will lean towards the sun with most of the leaves on the sunny side.  What is Auxin?

This plant movement (tropism) causes some plants like sunflowers to track the sun.  A pigment (cryptochrome) absorbs blue light from the sun and uses it as a means to tell time.  Cryptochrome sends a signal to the base of the leaf or flower where a pulvinus (a specialized, swollen structure) moves the leaf or flower to the right angle.  What is Heliotropism?

This plant movement (tropism) causes the turning and bending of plants including the winding of vines and tendrils.  Physical contact is the stimulus for this action.  In vines, auxins are lowest where the tendril touches the support and highest on the opposite side.  The high levels of auxin cause the cells on that side to grow longer, curving the tendril around the structure.  What is Thigmotropism?

           

Thank you for playing the game!  The material used is from the book ‘How Plants Work’ by Dr. Linda Chalker Scott, Timber Press, 2015.  This excellent resource has answered many questions for me and one I return to when I need to refresh my memory or when I wish to marvel at just ‘How Plants Work’.  Any misinterpretations are my own!