Plants Sure Are Smart [View all]
This spring, as I weed my beds, I notice imposters. They are weeds that look like a plant that I am cultivating. For example, I plant a lot of leeks, garlic, and onions in the fall. This year I have a weed that looks so much like garlic that it fooled me for a week or so. It grows right next to a real garlic or leek.
The interesting thing I've noted is not only is it smart for choosing to grow in a bed next to the leek or garlic, but it seems to choose the garlic or leek over the onion, which is growing in the same bed. (I have four raised beds full of onions, leeks, and garlic). This is interesting because the weed resembles the leek or the garlic more than it resembles the onion.
Thus it not only finds its way to the correct bed full of alliums, but it then discerns which is the best allium to disguise it!
Now for my question: does anyone know the name of this phenomenon? The name for the process by which a weed is able to choose a lookalike and thus preserve its chances of growing.
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