Nepotism Not Confined to Humans. Plants Take Care of Relatives Too, researchers report,
Traditionally, these kinds of behaviors have not been attributed to plants. Plants are generally thought to lack the tools even to recognize, much less favor other individuals that are close relatives.
A series of studies,
reviewed in the journal Science in January, showed that the notion that plants really do care for their most genetically close peers—in a “quiet, plant-y way”—is becoming more accepted. Some species limit how their roots spread, others change how many flowers they produce, or minimize leaf shading of neighboring plants, favoring related individuals.
on shared genes.