Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick.

Knotahippie · 20th September 2008, 07:33 PM

Found an interesting article about communication between trees and potential for keeping crops healthy...

AFP: Stressed trees release aspirin compound, may communicate : study

What do ya'll think?

Garry Brockley · 20th September 2008, 08:59 PM

I think its a plausible idea; there is evidence that pine trees excrete sap when fire is present and this spreads to surrounding trees, some kind of reaction hormone maybe? they are living organisms after all, we dont truly know how plants comunicate we can only speculate using the evidence that we can find. I wonder if that system works when we take out a tree do the surrounding trees comunicate a danger signal, increased or decreased xylem to the extremities; now there is a study, or an asprin effect. deep very deep.

Eric Frei · 21st September 2008, 06:29 PM

There'd be a lot of shit sticks shit scared then around Brisbane!

Knotahippie · 21st September 2008, 06:36 PM

Garry Brockley · 21st September 2008, 06:55 PM

Knotahippie · 21st September 2008, 07:36 PM

Felt sorta' bad yelling "HEADACHE" in the tree today.

ArborealTerror · 21st September 2008, 11:22 PM

Don't care if it's got a headache. I'm still gonna f$%^ it. (with the chainsaw)

OutofMytree · 22nd September 2008, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArborealTerror

Don't care if it's got a headache. I'm still gonna f$%^ it. (with the chainsaw)

Damn it! You are supposed to be studying!!!! You should have no time to be typing frivolity!!

On a more serious note, aspirin is derived from the bark of the willow tree. Although its modern form is significantly refined, the 1st recorded prescription for "aspirin" was from Hippocrates nearly 2500 years ago.

And you all thought my right buttock was my best feature!

newguy18 · 22nd September 2008, 02:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekka

There'd be a lot of shit sticks shit scared then around Brisbane!

wonder why.

Charles Ward · 24th December 2010, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OutofMytree

On a more serious note, aspirin is derived from the bark of the willow tree. Although its modern form is significantly refined, the 1st recorded prescription for "aspirin" was from Hippocrates nearly 2500 years ago.

Are you familiar with "willow water"? Here in the States we use it to root cuttings, it aids propagation. Seems aspirin has all sorts of uses.

Eric Frei · 5th February 2012, 07:14 PM

Prince Charles right that plants really can communicate with one another | Mail Online

Quote:

Yes you were right Charles: Plants really can communicate with one another

By Tamara Cohen

Last updated at 9:37 AM on 4th February 2012

All quiet in the garden? Take another look because it seems there might be an awful lot of chatter going on in the flower beds.

In news to gladden the heart of Prince Charles, who was once much mocked for having conversations with cabbages and the like, it appears science has caught up with what many gardeners have long held true – plants can communicate.

Researchers revealed how plants talk by modifying a cabbage gene which triggers the production of a gas emitted when a plant’s surface is cut or pierced.

By adding the protein luciferase – which makes fireflies glow in the dark – to the DNA the plants’ emissions could be monitored on camera.

One cabbage plant had a leaf cut off with scissors and started emitting a gas – methyl jasmonate – thereby ‘telling’ its neighbours there may be trouble ahead.

Two nearby cabbage plants, which had not been touched, received the message they should protect themselves. They did this by producing toxic chemicals on the leaves to fend off predators such as caterpillars.

It is the first time such a process has been caught on camera. Scientists say it raises the possibility that plants are all communicating with each other in a complex ‘invisible language’ which we know nothing about.

The footage will be shown as part of a three-part series called How to Grow a Planet, starting on Tuesday on BBC2 and presented by Professor Iain Stewart.

Professor Stewart, who saw the experiment at Exeter University, said: ‘The gas triggered a change in the biological activity in the two neighbouring plants. They detected the message warning them to protect themselves.

‘It’s fascinating to realise that there could be a constant chatter going on between different plants, that they can in some way sense chemically what is happening to others, like a hidden language which could be going on all around us.

‘Most people assume that plants lead a rather passive life, but in reality they move and sense and communicate. It’s almost like they show a kind of intelligence.’

The work was led by Professor Nick Smirnoff, who said it does not mean plants feel pain because they have no nerves.

Professor Smirnoff, a biochemist, said: ‘We have managed to show in a visual way that the gas emitted by plants when they have been wounded affects their neighbours.

‘But at this stage we don’t know why. They could have been trying to alert the plant’s other leaves to the damage and their neighbours have just picked it up, or they for some reason evolved to alert other plants.

‘It is not clear why that would be beneficial as you would think plants would be in competition with each other. So there’s a lot more work to be done.’

Charles Ward · 6th February 2012, 07:37 AM

While plants are not sentient, which would seem to preclude the attribution of volition such as an "attempt" to communicate, they do respond to stimuli. Given the lack of a connected nervous system it seems possible that "chemical (signals) communication" that would activate an adaptive response to a threat in a plant, "warning the other leaves" if you will, would communicate to surrounding plants in as much as they were in close enough proximity to detect the methyl jasmonate gas. The question is did the injured plant go into protective mode in the same manner as the neighboring plants. Such interactions only add to my appreciation of the complexity of our eco-system.

20th September 2008, 07:33 PM	#1
Knotahippie Mature tree Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bay Area Ca. Posts: 358	Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick. Found an interesting article about communication between trees and potential for keeping crops healthy... AFP: Stressed trees release aspirin compound, may communicate : study What do ya'll think?

20th September 2008, 08:59 PM	#2
Garry Brockley Bayside Tree Care Brisbane Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Brisbane Aus Posts: 1,649	Re: Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick. I think its a plausible idea; there is evidence that pine trees excrete sap when fire is present and this spreads to surrounding trees, some kind of reaction hormone maybe? they are living organisms after all, we dont truly know how plants comunicate we can only speculate using the evidence that we can find. I wonder if that system works when we take out a tree do the surrounding trees comunicate a danger signal, increased or decreased xylem to the extremities; now there is a study, or an asprin effect. deep very deep. __________________ My business:- Brisbane Bayside Tree Care

21st September 2008, 06:29 PM	#3
Eric Frei Admin - Razor sharp and independent 2 X Diploma Level 5 qualified arborist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,820	Re: Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick. There'd be a lot of shit sticks shit scared then around Brisbane! Attached Thumbnails __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

21st September 2008, 06:36 PM	#4
Knotahippie Mature tree Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bay Area Ca. Posts: 358	Re: Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick.

21st September 2008, 06:55 PM	#5
Garry Brockley Bayside Tree Care Brisbane Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Brisbane Aus Posts: 1,649	Re: Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick. __________________ My business:- Brisbane Bayside Tree Care

21st September 2008, 07:36 PM	#6
Knotahippie Mature tree Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bay Area Ca. Posts: 358	Re: Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick. Felt sorta' bad yelling "HEADACHE" in the tree today.

21st September 2008, 11:22 PM	#7
ArborealTerror Former Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Perth W.A. Posts: 84	Re: Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick. Don't care if it's got a headache. I'm still gonna f$%^ it. (with the chainsaw)

6th February 2012, 07:37 AM	#12
Charles Ward I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 4	Re: Trees Take Asprin When They Feel Sick. While plants are not sentient, which would seem to preclude the attribution of volition such as an "attempt" to communicate, they do respond to stimuli. Given the lack of a connected nervous system it seems possible that "chemical (signals) communication" that would activate an adaptive response to a threat in a plant, "warning the other leaves" if you will, would communicate to surrounding plants in as much as they were in close enough proximity to detect the methyl jasmonate gas. The question is did the injured plant go into protective mode in the same manner as the neighboring plants. Such interactions only add to my appreciation of the complexity of our eco-system.

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