Do plants sing?

Jill Severn

The last falling leaves and the first falling snow herald the beginning of winter. There's not much going on in the garden in winter, but that doesn't mean people have lost interest in the natural world. It just means that for most of us, it's become an indoor, armchair concern.

So it was in my cozy armchair that I read about new, super-sensitive listening devices that measure and analyze ever-tinier plant and animal sounds that human ears can't hear. Researchers have found noises coming from baby turtles still in their shells, for instance, which they conclude are intended to coordinate the time at which they will all hatch at once.

But I wondered: how can a human know the meaning or intention of those tiny turtle sounds? The fact that they make noises is not provably the reason they all hatch at once, is it?

Then I started reading about plant noises, soon defined as "plant music." My skepticism grew. It didn't take long to learn that plants don't actually make music; as Gary Ritchie, PhD, the author of Inside Plants, explained:

"I think what they are talking about is what are known as "cavitation events." These happen when the water column in tiny xylem vessels breaks when a plant comes under high water stress that exceeds the tensile strength of the water. When they break, they make tiny clicks resulting in embolisms in the xylem. These tiny clicks have been measured in the laboratory, and I'm not surprised that people with super sensitive listening devices can record them as well." Mother Google offers a drawing that demonstrates xylem cavitation and embolism if you want to know more.

The "music" in "plant music" is actually made by recording those tiny clicks and incorporating them into human-composed music. But this has not stopped marketers from making wild claims:

A marketing news website reports that "Subway U.K. & Ireland created an original song based on the sounds of ingredients featured in its plant-based menu . . . The health-conscious effort revealed today, on World Earth Day, targets the brand's Gen Z consumers."

"The sandwich chain enlisted vocalist P Money and producer duo Star.One to develop the 'Vegang' track that champions the benefits of veganism. The artists, known for their work in the grime genre, leveraged a technology called PlantWave to devise the song."

That is a very long way from a credible claim of musical plant life, and one hopes that Gen Z is not falling for it.

Plants and animals do communicate. Trees exchange chemical messages through mycorrhizal networks of thread-like fungi in the soil. They also send airborne chemical messages. The dogs whose owners walk them down my street communicate by sniffing the corner of a hedge where other dogs pee. This corner is known as the neighborhood "pee-osk." But does this mean one dog learns what another dog had for dinner?

There is a vast difference between these phenomena and the poppycock dished out by the pseudo-scientists who are determined to romanticize and humanize the entire natural world in their own images. That's just human hubris.

When I was a very small child, I thought the wind was produced by trees waving their branches, so I can see why humanizing the nonhuman forces of nature comes . . . um . . . naturally.

But we adult humans ought to be more grown up by now, since we have the benefit of many centuries of scientific discovery and analysis, and the apparently underutilized capacity for rational thought.

We don't need to gild the lily; a lily's petals are far more beautiful in their natural state. So are the trees, the tomato plants, the tiny turtles, and all of creation. In all our centuries of science, the lesson we've missed is an important one about humility.

We can love, honor and celebrate all living plants and animals just as they are. And as this season reminds us, we are at our best when we do the same for each other.

Jill Severn writes from her home in Olympia, where she grows vegetables, flowers, and a small flock of chickens. She loves conversation among gardeners. Start one by emailing her at  jill@theJOLTnews.com