Laura Beloff was at her desk when the clicking began. 

The researcher had linked a plant to a microphone that lets humans hear high-pitched sound. The plant seemed to have something to say.

Beloff is not the only one listening to plants. Former marine biologist Monica Gagliano claims plants talk to her. Gagliano's dreamt of a tree calling her to Peru, where she went through a shamanic ritual to hear plants sing.

There is a gathering swell of scientists coming around to the idea that plants are intelligent.

Believers argue humans know very little. It is estimated 86% of species remain unknown to us.

Many strange things are true in nature. We know that animals use language. Ravens haggle for food and tools. Prairie dogsLarge burrowing rodents that live on the grasslands of North America.  use nouns, verbs and adjectives. Alston's singing miceA species of brown mouse native to Central America. Male mice sing to attract mates and warn off other males from their territory. perform duets.

Venus fly traps can count. PandoLatin for I spread, a reference to the group's 100 acre extent. Quaking aspen trees "clone" themselves through a shared root system., a group of quaking aspen trees in Utah, has survived for at least 80,000 years by spawning genetically identical clones. 

One experiment by Gagliano suggested plants have a memory. She repeatedly dropped mimosas - a plant that close when touched - onto foam. After a while, the plants stopped closing, as if it knew the fall would be harmless.

Heaps of research suggests plants can communicate. They send chemical signals through their roots to alert other plants to their presence. Trees locate underground nutrients with microbes. One study found plants upping the sugar in their nectar when a bee passed.

Sceptics are hesitant that this communication equals talking. Language is a specific faculty. Plants do not possess the neuronsNeurons, also known as nerve cells, are cells in the nervous system that use chemical or electrical signals to transmit information throughout the body.  that allow humans to speak. 

Speech seems to require cognition. Plants react to things but they may do so instinctively. As plant biologist David Robinson says: "They've got nothing to do with a thought process."

Yes: Plants are astonishing. They can react to our touch, recognise family members and even call over wasps to attack caterpillars. There is evidence that they can communicate. It does not seem like an enormous leap of faith to suggest that they can talk.

No: At a time when nature seems more important than ever, it makes sense to humanise plants to make them seem worth protecting. And plants have incredible abilities. But to claim that they can talk is wishful thinking.

Or... It is short-sighted to think about language only in the way we use it. It might be absurd to suggest plants can speak, but the way they share information is marvellous - and not something to ignore.