On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 14:09:39 +0100, Alan Gould
wrote:

When plants react to circumstances in a defensive or protective way, is
that not an equivalent of fear or wariness in animals?

No, it is purely the result of a stimulus in the same way that
photosynthesis starts to occur when a plant is exposed to light or
that wilting occurs as a result of lack of water.

And when they act
in ways which will lead to their procreation, isn't that equivalent to
the mating instinct in animals, known as love (or whatever) in humans?

Well, for a start, the mating instinct in many humans has nothing to
do with the need to procreate and is more to do with recreational (and
to an extent personal or even selfish) gratification. In some cases
it is accompanied by a deeper emotional sensation, but by no means
always. With the exception of Bonobo chimpanzees and some species of
dolphin, there are few if any indications that other animals act in a
similar way.

Sorry, I think you are way off the mark here. You are projecting
human emotions onto lower animals and then to plants. This is an all
too common human failing that ill-serves the objects of those
emotions. There is no science to prove that plants have 'feelings' or
emotions. All living things seek to multiply, whether they are of a
microbial or higher life form. Procreation is one of the defining
characteristics of living things. Instinct (in animals) and reaction
to stimulus (in plants) is not the same as emotion and it is facile
to make such a comparison.

Nor do plants act in any positive or selective way that leads to their
procreation. They react to stimuli which ultimately leads to
flowering. The stimuli can be day-length, maturation, stress and
temperature amongst many other things. Plants have no choice in the
matter - their purpose is to grow, reproduce and thereby perpetuate
themselves. Nor do they select 'mates'. So long as pollen arriving
upon the stigmas is viable and from a genetically compatible plant
(ie. same or related species) fertilisation will occur.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November