I just had this interesting idea, unfortunately i don't think there is any living examples or evidences of it, so i don't know how to propose what the nature of your responses might be, but here goes.

 

K so plants grow toward a source of light, generally the source is in the same place on average. Wait, is that true? maybe not in the case of the sun, but the movement of the sun is gradual enough not to cause any real chaos in the growth patterns of those who feed off of it (yes i am referring to plants and who). What if the plant was potted on a device that could spin, move up and down, and rotate in any direction. It could be computer controlled to move in different combinations of patterns at various frequencies--- so as to change in strange ways the direction the plant grows, according to the pattern of stimulation by the source (maybe the sun, maybe something else, if something else it could be the something else that moves in the pattern, instead of the pot).

 

There could be some very interesting results, probably mostly in the field of art (can you think of any practical applications for such a device?)

maybe at first this doesn't seem that exciting cause there are plants and stuff that grow spirally and weird and stuff, actually was wondering what the effect could be on an even smaller level, if the device is working constantly through a large period of it's growth, and the computer formulas for movement complex enough, the effect might be specific to small areas of chloroplasts. Sounds like it might be more expensive to run such a device than it's worth to see what it creates, but we can still think about it.

That sounds like a great idea for people that grow bonzais. They spend years shaping and twisting branches into particular patterns with wire. A device like that could make their job easier.

I doubt the effects would be that extreme, considering that if I look out of the window right now at the plants they aren't all pointing towards the sun's path across the sky. I haven't really looked into it before but it seems that even ambient light must be enough to break down auxin .

 

You might get a similar effect though just by tilting the plant to wacky angles.

There is a type of flower that faces the sun as it moves across the sky. If you twist the plant pot the flower twists back to face the sun, if the pot is twisted too far the flower head can twist right round itself, snap and drop off.

 

Unfortunately i can't remember it's name, a type of daisy i believe, i'll try and dig up the details.

I think all types of daisy do that, iirc...

 

But as Richard Griffiths says, flowers are essentially tarts.

 

What we want is a crazy twisto-plant.

Do the twist again like we did last summer?

There is a type of flower that faces the sun as it moves across the sky. If you twist the plant pot the flower twists back to face the sun' date=' if the pot is twisted too far the flower head can twist right round itself, snap and drop off.

 

Unfortunately i can't remember it's name, a type of daisy i believe, i'll try and dig up the details.[/quote']

It's the heliotrope.

Thanks, now all we need to do is cross breed it with an oak tree to get some interesting results.