Few people know that plants can move like animals, but they move in situ, which is not as obvious as animals. So far, there are nearly a thousand kinds of plants that can move. For example, the climbing movement of plum beans and peas, the climbing movement of grapes and loofah, the phototaxis movement of sunflowers, the sleeping movement of alfalfa and sorrel, the insect catching movement of pitcher plants and felt moss and so on. The most wonderful "athletes" among plants are mimosa and dancing grass.

The gentle and delicate mimosa seems to have a special "motor cell". As long as it touches its leaves, it will immediately lower its head. First the leaflets closed, then the petiole drooped, just like a shy girl. Therefore, people named it "mimosa". Mimosa has four pinnate leaves on its petiole, and the pinnate leaves are composed of many opposite small red leaves. Petiole and petiole base are slightly enlarged, and the enlarged part is called leaf pillow. The lower part of the occipital cell wall is thicker and the upper part is thinner. Under normal circumstances, the cells are filled with cell fluid, which makes the leaves in a normal state. Upon contact, the water in the cells above the occipital lobule quickly enters the intercellular space, closing the lobule. The leaf pillow at the base of the big petiole is just the opposite of the lobular leaf pillow, and the cell wall in the lower half is thinner and the cell gap is larger. Therefore, heavy stimulation will weaken the cells in the lower half of the petiole, making the whole compound leaf droop and feel ashamed of flowers.

Dancing grass and soybean are close relatives and belong to leguminous plants. It consists of three compound leaves, but the middle leaf is particularly large and rectangular. The leaflets on both sides are very small, like two rabbit ears, and can often rotate spontaneously. Generally, it rotates once every 1 minute. The big leaf in the middle swings up and down at a certain angle. Strangely, this rocking movement is completely automatic, without any touch or stimulation. Dancing grass has fun in desolate and lonely fields, dancing its leaves constantly. At night, the dance stopped automatically. Some people think that the movement of dancing grass is caused by the physiological changes of plants.

As early as18th century, scientists first discovered bioelectricity in electric eels. After further research, it is found that there is a bioelectric current in animals and plants, but it is very weak. Based on this, some scientists believe that catching Cordyceps sinensis is touched by insects, which first generates bioelectric current transmission signals to cause insect catching action. In different plants, the speed of bioelectricity conduction is different. For example, in grapes, the conduction speed is about 1 cm per second, while in mimosa, it can reach about 30 cm per second. So as long as you touch the leaves of mimosa, its leaf pillow will feel it soon.

But what is the real reason for the movement of plant leaves? This remains to be further studied and discussed by scientists.