Plant intelligence: history and current trends

Abstract

Since antiquity, plant life and complexity have aroused the curiosity of many scholars, including aspects of plant intelligence. While historically the topic of intelligence in plants in academia has been approached with scepticism, more recently this matter has gained evidence, especially in popular science literature. Based on a systematic literature review of scientific journals, this work had two objectives: (1) to describe the history and state-of-the-art of the research on plant intelligence; (2) to evaluate whether the academic literature has followed, in quantity and profile, the current profusion of the theme in popular science vehicles. The results showed that the academic production on the subject in scientific journals, although rich in arguments that account for intelligence in plants, is still not very expressive in comparison with the popular science boost in visibility. Such evidence indicates the persistence of academic resistance to the attribution of this trait to plants. Finally, we discuss implications of this trend for science and for human-nature relationships from a philosophical standpoint.