The Fabulous Singing Stomata

See and hear microscopic leaf pores sing about what they do.

What’s Going On?

Plants can’t really sing, but they do have mouths. Almost every plant has microscopic pores, called stomata, on the bottom sides of its leaves. Stomata open and close to control the amount of water leaving the plant. Stomata also help the plant with photosynthesis—harvesting energy from sunlight.

Bohemian Stomata

Running time: one minute, ten seconds

Time-lapse imagery courtesy of Douglas Clark, paedia.com.

Bohemian Stomata

Las Estomas

Running time: one minute, ten seconds

Time-lapse imagery courtesy of Douglas Clark, paedia.com.

Las Estomas

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Funded by a generous grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, with additional support from the Troy and Leslie Daniels Fund for Life Sciences.