the.com/heliotropism

Plants stalking the sun all day without the restraining order.

means The tendency of plant parts — especially flowers and leaves — to turn or grow in response to the direction of sunlight.

from Built from Greek 'helios' (sun) and 'tropē' (a turning), the same '-tropē' that gives us 'trophy' (originally a turning-point marker in battle) and shows up in words like 'phototropism.' The sunflower lent the phenomenon its popular face, though botanists note true heliotropism is a slower growth response, not the flower swiveling in real time like a tiny solar dish.

young sunflowers
track east to west, reset east overnight
mechanism
growth hormone piles up on the shaded side
mature flowers
stop tracking, lock facing east permanently
why east
warm blooms attract more pollinating insects
the.com · every word