Discover the Joy and Meaning of Life through Science by Planting a Tree

Plants are such a familiar part of our landscape that we eas[image error]ily take them for granted. And our proclivity for ascribing human characteristics to non-human things — a helpful way to understand the world — often has us comparing the similarities between plants and animals. Both need water oxygen, and nutrients to grow, for example, and a host of loose metaphors are found: plants are said to be able to see, feel pain, and even speak to one another. But what really distinguishes plants, says ca...