Study: Why sunflowers follow the sun

The burning question — why sunflowers all the time follow the sun — has an answer. The study of biologists revealed the secret of the plants’ movements during the day. Another question was why the sunflowers stop follow the sun and only face east when the plant is adult?

Scientists from the University of California, Davis, published the study, in which they have answered a question about the following the sun by plants sunflowers. The young flowers move their blooms to always face the sun over the course of a day. But an adult sunflower stopsuch a following and only faces east.

IAccording to the scientists, the plant’s sun-tracking called heliotropism. it easy to explain by circadian rhythms. This 24-hour cycle is the plant’s clock, their regime. Young plants slowly turn their heads from east in the morning to the west before the night. Professor Stacey Harmer explains:

“It’s the first example of a plant’s clock modulating growth in a natural environment, and having real repercussions for the plant.

The researchers found that the plant’s turning is actually a result of different sides of the stem elongating at different times of day, explains the video: