According to legend, when the mandrake is uprooted it gives out a scream which is fatal to anyone nearby. As far as we know, there has been no scientific verification of this but now, in a recent paper researchers at Tel-Aviv University report the detection of ultrasound emission from stressed tomato and tobacco plants.
Using machine learning models, it was possible to use the sounds to identify the type of stressed condition of the plants, such as dehydration level and injury. It is already widely proposed that plants can communicate with each other in various ways such as through air-borne emission of volatile organic compounds like terpenes or terpenoids or through their shared root systems, or even via interconnected systems of roots and fungi known as mycorhhizal networks which can extend over large areas and have been nicknamed the Wood Wide Web, although this is disputed by many. The new findings by the research groups in Israel are based on only a few types of plant in a very controlled environment but it is speculated that the sounds emitted may be detectable by other organisms and, if so, this could open up new avenues of investigation in the field of plant communication.
For more information see: Khait, I., Lewin-Epstein, O., Sharon, R., Saban, K., Goldstein, R., Anikster, Y., Zeron, Y., Agassy, C., Nizan, S., Sharabi, G., Perelman, R., Boonman, A., Sade, N., Yovel, Y., Hadany, L. Cell, 186, 1328-1336 (2023) (open access)