You may never look at a mushroom in the same way again. It might be difficult, hereafter, to sautee half a pound in butter and throw them on a steak when you learn that mushrooms have a language and can recognize up to 50 words.

It seems electrical impulses of fungi are similar to human speech and resemble the vocabulary of dozens of words.

Unbeknownst to us until this point in history, the plant world appears to be chatting away–tree to tree, mushroom to mushroom. I’d like to believe they have interesting observations and conversations about the human world, as in, “Here comes that plant murderer again with her watering pail,” or, “Hello! I’m thirsty! Is anybody home here?”

“It’s far more complicated than anybody thought,” an academic article in Conversation magazine pointed out. According to the study, despite lacking a nervous system, fungi seem to transmit information using electrical impulses across thread-like filaments, creating networks that are remarkably similar to animal nervous systems. By measuring the frequency and intensity of the impulses, it may be possible to understand the languages used to communicate within and between organisms across the kingdoms of life.

Indeed. “Across the kingdoms of life.” How humbling it is for man to recognize that all life forms are far more complex than we have understood, and while a mushroom will never build a Tesla, their role in the universe may serve a purpose as important as ours.

So, what is the plant world discussing, do you suppose?

One interesting thing plants communicate to each other is who they are. Plants know their siblings, and plants that are the same species, and plants that are total strangers.

If a nearby plant is a stranger, they react very strongly, especially one that is growing long, invasive roots that stretch out for long distances, driving other plants out. Who knew weeds were so intentionally cruel? (I may have suspected this.)

On the other hand, when a plant is a sibling, both plants grow much more shallow roots, allowing the sibling plant to use equal amounts of space, and to support each other, they grow extra long, intertwined branches and leaves. Cooperation! Maybe earth’s plants have something to teach the rest of us about life.

Now, here’s where it gets downright endearing. Some signals that plants give off are friendly, encouraging other living things to cozy up to their roots and cooperate with the plant so both will be healthier. And here’s where mushrooms and other fungi come back to our story: one of the best known examples of this is mycorrhizal fungi. These are different types of plant-friendly fungi that attach to the roots of the plants, and basically extend the plant’s root system with the fungi’s large web of filaments. The fungi are better at absorbing nutrients from the soil because of the huge network of filaments, and they share these nutrients with the plant. So, one species does what the other can’t do: the plant feeds sugar to the fungi, and absorbs nutrients from the fungi, making both plants healthier together than they would be apart.

Plants can be hostile too, which I find so interesting. If they don’t like another plant, they’ll kill it with a passion we didn’t know they had. If something attacks the plant, it will send out hostile signals and either drive predators away or kill them. They can also make the soil so unbearable the predators slowly dwindle away.

And plants have friends! If only one plant in a group is under attack by a pest, the plant is able to communicate what is going on to the other plants in the group, and all the plants get together to go after the predator. Let’s look at aphids as an example: some plants secrete a chemical that attracts bugs that eat aphids. Or, the roots of the plant can send chemicals to leaves to make them taste bad to predators, or they will produce toxins that kill or disable predators in the soil.

Here I thought a green thumb was solely the domain of the intuitive gardener. It could be plants don’t like some people and love others. I’m dying to hear what they’re saying about my husband. They seem to like him. They must think he’s cute.