A directional growth response of plants to environmental stimuli such as light, gravity, or touch. Tropisms allow plants to orient their growth toward favorable conditions or away from harmful ones.
From Greek 'tropos' meaning turn or direction, first used in botany in the 1880s. The term captures how plants 'turn' or direct their growth in response to stimuli.
Tropisms prove that plants are way smarter than they look - they can 'see' light, 'feel' gravity, and 'sense' obstacles, then literally grow around problems or toward opportunities, all without a brain or nervous system!
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