Marvellous memories are often attributed to elephants, but scientists have discovered that plants can also learn and remember – even though they do not have a brain.
Scientists claim fern-like plants that respond to touch have learned that water droplets are not harmful and remember the finding weeks afterwards.
Their research suggests that experience teaches plants to learn details to survive and could lead to scientists viewing flora in a new way.

The researchers studied Mimosa pudica, which folds inwards when touched to protect itself from predators.
The University of Western Australia study, which also involved Professor Stefano Mancuso at the University of Florence in Italy, found the action is not simply a reflex

They examined the species’ short and long-term memories under both high and low light environments by repeatedly dropping water on the plants using a custom-designed apparatus to look at their response.
The strange fauna stopped curling up once it learned that the water was not a threat to its survival and no damage was done, according to the study, which was published in the journal Oecologia.
Mimosa plants were able to acquire the learnt behaviour in a matter of seconds and as in animals, learning was faster in low light.
‘Most remarkably, these plants were able to remember what had been learned for several weeks, even after environmental conditions had changed,' the researchers said.
The study shows that Mimosa pudica plants can learn and remember just as well as it would be expected of animals, but of course, they do it all without a brain.