In a 2021 study published in the journal Plant Signaling & Behavior, Felipe Yamashita and Jacob White claimed that B. trifoliata may employ a primitive form of vision to identify and mimic their hosts. This hypothesis is based upon 1905 and 1907 claims by Gottlieb Haberlandt and Francis Darwin, respectively, that some plants use ‘ocelli’ or lens-like cells to focus light onto other light sensitive cells. In this study, B. trifoliata was observed mimicking the leaf shapes of plastic plants, and researchers refined Haberlandt and Darwin’s ocelli hypothesis, claiming that B. trifoliata may be using convex shaped lenses in epidermal tissue that can detect light and “see” the shapes of nearby leaves.[24] They further proposed that, B. trifoliata processes that information through an unknown means, possibly through neuron-like structures in order to initiate mimicry.[18][23] The study also found that non-mimetic leaves have more free-end veinlets and identified the hormone auxin as a possible mediator in changes to leaf morphology.[24]
This paper received substantial media coverage, was praised by F1000’s Faculty Opinions, and went viral on the social media platform TikTok following its release. František Baluška, a plant biologist and editor-in-chief of Plant Signaling & Behavior, praised this hypothesis, and claimed that root skototropism and photoreceptive cells in algae were analogous mechanisms for “plant sight”. However, the paper’s conclusions have largely been met with skepticism by scientists. Criticisms of the paper include poor methodology, White’s lack of a scientific background, and possible conflicts of interest between Baluška and Yamashita.[18][23] The research was awarded the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize for botany.[25]
From Wikipedia: