Have you heard of plants that pray? Some plants fold their leaves at night, as if they are praying.
Most of these prayer plants have big, oval leaves. They turn upward at night. In fact, there are many plants that move their leaves at night. The leaves of plants such as peas and beans bend downward in the night as if they are sleeping or praying.
There is a regular pattern for the folding and unfolding of such leaves. Biologists call these routine patterns ‘daily cycles’ or ‘circadian rhythm’. The most probable reason for this phenomenon is that the plants are trying to prevent loss of heat during the cold night hours. The leaves move because the water in the cells of the leaves move in and out of it. When water moves out from one cell to another, the cell without water tends to wilt, and the plant seems to move. And, for some mysterious reason, the absence or presence of light plays a role in this phenomenon.
Picture Credit : Google