Fig. 1.

Effects of a volatile anaesthetic agent, diethyl ether, on plant movements. (A) The leaf-closing movement of Mimosa pudica under 15 % diethyl ether. After 1 h of treatment, leaves completely lost the response to touch stimuli. All leaves gradually recovered closure movement after 7 h following the removal of diethyl ether. Arrows indicate closed leaves. (B) The rapid trap movement of Dionaea muscipula disappeared after 1 h of 15 % diethyl ether treatment. The arrow indicates the leaf stimulated. (C) Sundew plant (Drosera capensis) showed no prey reaction under 15 % diethyl ether atmosphere. Arrows show normal trap bending reaction. (D) The movement of tendrils disappears with 15 % diethyl ether. The relevant movies are available as Supplementary Data.