Perturbations of the periodicity of plant leaflet oscillations caused by visible light

Lateral leaflet movements in the presence of blue and white light stimuli in the plant Desmodium gyrans have been studied. A strong effect, namely, the reduction of amplitude of the lateral leaflet movement and thus a shortening period was observed. The oscillations regained their same regularity over a few cycles after the stimulus was removed and they quickly halted when the lateral leaflets were exposed to a light of higher intensity. However, the blue light was found to be more effective than the white light in the perturbation of leaflet oscillations. The results were discussed by reviewing the investigations performed in this plant with other stimuli.