Apparently, the Venus fly-trap uses calcium as a short-term memory device to know when to shut the trap on an insect. But other plants display feats of “memory” too:
Scientists know that some plants have a type of long-term memory, says study coauthor Mitsuyasu Hasebe, a biologist at the National Institute for Basic Biology in Okazaki, Japan. One example is vernalization, whereby plants remember long periods of winter cold as a signal to flower in the spring. But short-term memory is more enigmatic, and “this is the first direct evidence of the involvement of calcium,” Hasebe says.
Even though the carnivorous plant, famous for its jawlike leaves, has no brain or nervous system, it can apparently count to five and distinguish between live prey and things like rain, which could inadvertently trigger its leaves to snap shut, wasting energy
Curtis Segarra, “How Venus flytraps store short-term ‘memories’ of prey” at ScienceNews
Paper. (open access)
Plants communicate in ways that we are only beginning to learn:
Scientists: Plants Are NOT Conscious! No, but why do serious plant scientists even need to make that clear? What has happened? Quite simply, the need to see humans as equivalent to animals has now spread to the need to see us as equivalent to plants.
Can plants be as smart as animals? Seeking to thrive and grow, plants communicate extensively, without a mind or a brainSeeking to thrive and grow, plants communicate extensively, without a mind or a brain
and
Researchers: Yes, plants have nervous systems too. Not only that but, like mammals, they use glutamate to speed transmission