RP139 The Dancing Plants of Udon Thani

RP139 The Dancing Plants of Udon Thani

Yes, you read that right: plants that dance. It's true. I've seen them!

Udon Thani is a province in northeast Thailand. There are no big cities there and not as many tourist attractions as there are in other parts of the country. But there is one small plant nursery with one of the most amazing but little-known sights in the world: simple, green plants that look like common weeds.

These particular dancing plants are a hybrid of the Thani Gyrant and the Chinese Gyrant— the pure parents can't dance as well as their hybrid child. The scientific name of this type of plant is Codariocalyx motorius.

Let's go back to the dancing. Walk through the nursery, which is full of beautiful Thai orchids. Deep in the center of the nursery, surrounded by brighter, more eye-catching plants, is a row of these green weeds. These are the dancing plants. "Stand in front of them and sing," the nursery worker says.

At first it feels silly to sing to a plant. I sing quietly and shyly, and nothing happens. I think about leaving, but I make myself stay and sing longer. Slowly, the plants start opening and closing their little leaves. The longer and louder I sing, the more they move. When I stop, they stop. I test to see if my breath is making the leaves blow— nope. They' re moving because I'm making a sound. It's incredible to interact with a plant this way. It makes me think very deeply about the ways all living creatures are alive. Perhaps we' re more connected with the plant world than we think we are.

Why the plant dances is still mysterious— just another sign that we still have a lot to learn about our world.