Plant Physiology

Special Terms on Types of Plant Movements

Plant movements do exist. Although, unlike animals, plants are incapable of
locomotion in that they are unable to move from one place to another, or
perform some feat like shaking of hands as humans do, they are still capable
of some form of movement.
Plant organs move toward scarce resource or otherwise secure food, or use it
as an adaptation to escape or minimize injury from harmful external factors,
or ensure development. Thus, for example, the primary root moves
downward where it can obtain water and mineral nutrients from deep down
while the shoot moves upward to be exposed to light from the sun;
carnivorous plants exhibit movement to trap insects which are to become
sources of nutrition; certain flowers close at night to prevent chilling injury or
when there is intense heat; the pollen tube which carry sperms moves
toward the ovule which, after fertilization, forms into a seed; and the stomata
open and close as a mechanism to regulate transpiration and
photosynthesis under various environmental conditions.
For centuries the subject of plant movement has in fact occupied the
scientific community for want of deeper understanding of plant growth and
development. Knowing the exact functions of these movements, their
environmental requisites, and their control would benefit crop production. It
is possible to achieve increased growth and productivity by manipulating the
environment or the internal control mechanisms of these movements.
Below are some of the terms used in describing specific types of plant
movements that occur naturally:
1. Circumnutation or nutation - rotary or helical, or spiral pattern of
movement of plant organs, such as stems, tendrils and roots, without
physical contact with any object.
2. Tropic Movements (movements of curvature that respond to the
direction of the external stimulus. Movement may be toward the same
direction as the stimulus (positive tropism), opposite (negative
tropism), or at any intermediate angle (between 0 and 90). Tropic
responses are due to differential growth in tissues adjacent and away
from the stimulus):

2. Phototropism - the movement of plant organs, such as the stem and

coleoptile, in response to illumination by a unilateral (or unidirectional) light.
Phototropic response may be positive, as when the stem tip bends toward a
light source, or negative when it bends away from the same light source.
Leaves normally orient at intermediate angles with respect to light direction
and are so described as plagiotropic.
3. Geotropism or Gravitropism - the unidirectional response of plants to
gravitational pull. Common terms applied in describing responses of plant
organs to the direction of gravitational pull are: positive gravitropism - the
organ, e.g. the primary root, grows downward toward the direction of the pull
of gravity (center of the earth); negative gravitropism - the organ, e.g. the
shoot, moves upward in opposite direction to the center of the earth;
orthogravitropic - the parallel alignment of the primary plant axis (primary
root and stem) with the direction of the pull of gravity; diagravitropic - the
organ, e.g. stolons and rhizomes, grows perpendicular to the pull of gravity;
plagiogravitropic - the organ, notably the lateral stems and roots, orient at
some intermediate angle (between 0 and 90) with respect to the linear
direction of the gravitational pull; agravitropic - the organs do not respond
or has little sensitivity to the pull of gravity.
4. Chemotropism - plant movement in response to a chemical substance.
An example is the growth of the pollen tube toward the substances secreted
by the stigma and style and on to the ovule or embryo sac. Plant roots
elongate toward a supply of essential mineral nutrients. A special type of
chemotropism is aerotropism or oxytropism, the bending response to air,
particularly oxygen.
5. Electropism or Galvanotropism - movement of curvature in response
to electrical current.
6. Heliotropism - also called solar tracking, is a plant movement in which
the organs of plants track the sun across the sky. The responding organ may
be oriented perpendicular, parallel, or obliquely to the suns rays. Examples:
sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and compass plant (Silphium laciniatum).
7. Hydrotropism - the growth of plant parts, i.e. the roots, in response to
moisture or water. The root exhibits positive hydrotropic response by moving
toward the water source.

8. Rheotropism - movement of curvature in which a plant organ, i.e. roots,

turn away from water current.
9. Thermotropism - the movement of curvature in response to changes in
the external stimulus of temperature.
10. Thigmotropism or haptotropism - the movement of plants in
response to touch or physical contact. It results to curvature and the coiling
of tendrils or entire stems on supports but also occurs in other plant organs
such as leaves, petioles, and roots. The curvature is due to differential
growth, that is, more cell division and elongation at the outer than at the
inner side in contact with the support. Examples: bitter gourd (tendrils),
morning glory (Ipomoea triloba), beans.
11. Traumatropism - plant movement in response to one-sided injury. Roots
tend to turn away from the wounded side.
Nastic Movements (plant movement independent of the direction of the
external stimulus. The direction of response is predetermined by internal
control mechanisms within the tissues. Unlike tropisms, there is no
pronounced bending toward or against the direction of stimulus. These plant
responses can be either growth movements which are permanent or turgor
movements which are reversible.):
12. Epinasty - the bending of an organ, such as petioles, leaves, and
peduncles, toward the ground not due to gravity. The bending response is
due to higher rate of longitudinal growth at the upper than at the lower side
of the organ.
13. Hyponasty - the upward bending of an organ (reverse of epinasty).
14. Hydronasty - plant movement (for example the opening and closing of
some flowers) in response to atmospheric humidity.
15. Nyctinasty - the sleep movement (opening and closing) of plant organs,
such as leaves and flowers, due to day and night periods of daily rhythm.
The leaves of many nyctinastic plants open during the day or part of the day
and close at night. Nyctinastic movement caused by change in light
intensity is called photonastic (n. photonasty) while that caused by change
in temperature is called thermonastic (n. thermonasty).

16. Seismonasty - movement in plants in response to touch as well as other

forms of physical contact or mechanical disturbance such as shaking,
wounding, wind, raindrops, and intense heat or burning. In the case of the
sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), a leaflet, leaf, or group of leaves rapidly
folds and bends in response to the external stimulus.
17. Thigmonasty or haptonasty - plant movement in response to touch or
physical contact without regard to the direction of the stimulus. Thigmonastic
movements are exemplified by the closing of the insect-eating plant Venuss
flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and the bending of the glandular hairs of sundew
(Drosera sp.) as a result of contact with an insect.