Sagebrush chat.

The sagebrush communicated and cooperated with other branches of themselves to avoid being eaten by grasshoppers, Karban said. Although the research is in its early stages, the scientists suspect that the plants warn their own kind of impending danger by emitting volatile cues. This may involve secreting chemicals that deter herbivores or make the plant less profitable for herbivores to eat, he said.

What this research means is that plants are "capable of more sophisticated behavior than we imagined," said Karban, who researches the interactions between herbivores (plant-eating organisms) and their host plants.

"Plants are capable of responding to complex cues that involve multiple stimuli," Karban said. "Plants not only respond to reliable cues in their environments but also produce cues that communicate with other plants and with other organisms, such as pollinators, seed disperses, herbivores and enemies of those herbivores."

This isn't news, despite the semi-breathless tone of the PR. I've known of this for years and read about it many times. When plants are damaged they emit VOCs that have a variety of effects. In some cases they attract predators, like the smell of cooking food can draw visitors, or chumming the water draws sharks. But they also can cause other plants to emit toxins that are metabolically costly to produce and so are not made except when stressed.