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We humans are known to help out members of our own families. When it comes to business we call it nepotism. Now plants have demonstrated the same predilection, in a study published in the American Journal of Botany.
我們人類都知道一家人要互幫互助、和衷共濟，在生意場上這就叫做裙帶關系。現在，植物們也被證明有同樣的傾向，這項研究發表在《美國植物學期刊》上。
Previous research showed that plants—in that study they used a plant called the Great Lakes sea rocket—can recognize the root systems of siblings from the same momma plant and will give them a more fair share of nutrients in the soil.
之前的一項研究已經證明，植物能夠識別出與自身存在親緣關系的植物根系，并會慷慨地與其分享土壤中的營養物質。科學家們在此項研究中參照的植物名為海芥。
This new study is the first to look above ground. Researchers at McMaster University in Canada potted North American impatiens. When the plants shared a pot with seeds from the same parent plant, they shared access to light by growing taller with more branches and fewer leaves. But when those same impatiens were planted with other impatiens—but not their siblings—they put more energy into growing more and larger leaves that could crowd out the non-relatives.
而這項新研究把視線轉移到了地上，來自加拿大麥克馬斯特大學的研究人員在實驗室中盆栽了一種名叫北美鳳仙花的植物作為研究對象。當這種植物和來自同一個母本種子形成的植株栽種在一個花盆時，它們會長得更高，枝干也會更多，不過葉子卻很少，這樣就能和自己的親戚共享陽光了；而當這種植物和與自己沒有親緣關系的鳳仙花共用一個花盆時，它們就會使勁長出更大的葉子，好與這個非親非故的鄰居競爭。
Researchers say the roots alert plants to the relationship of nearby plants, because when impatiens were planted near siblings but in separate pots, they didn't recognize their kin. Just goes to show that even in the plant world, family comes first.
研究者們稱，是它們的根系識別出了周圍的植物是否和自己存在親緣關系，因為把兩株存在“親戚關系”的鳳仙花分別栽種在不同的花盆里再并排放置，它們并沒有認出彼此。這一切正好說明，即使在植物的世界中，家庭也是第一位的。
