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Mesmerizing Time-Lapse Videos Show How Much Plants Move During a Day

By Sara Barnes on November 16, 2020

تصوير حركة نباتات خلال “٢٤” ساعة.
حياة pic.twitter.com/WeUPz1L0EC

— ميلورا (@Melora_1) September 3, 2020

It might not seem like it, but plants are continuously moving throughout the day. Although many are anchored to the soil, their leaves change position as their environment changes, too. This phenomenon is best demonstrated through time-lapse videos of the tiny movements that a plant makes over the course of a day. When sped up, it’s incredible to see just how much is happening when we aren’t looking.

One of the most dramatic shows of this slow-moving event was shared by Twitter user @Melora_1. In the video posted, a variety of calathea plants rise and fall as time whizzes by on a red clock. They are a perfect type of plant to highlight this minute movement, as the genus—belonging to the family Marantaceae—has a tendency to “pray” during the nighttime. This is because there is a small “joint” between the leaf and stem. Their leaves open to get as much sunlight as possible and will move to accommodate the changing positioning of the sun. (It should be noted that many plants, beyond the Marantaceae family, do this as well.)

Check out more time-lapse plant videos below and be prepared to marvel at the elegance of nature.