External and internal control in plant development

Bodies of plants are modularly organized. Development proceeds by adding new modules to open endings with a potential for branching. Each module is autonomous to some extent. Development relies on the self-organized patterns that emerge from the interactions of individual modules. Interactions include both competition and cooperation, and several types of positive and negative feedback loops are involved. Development can be open to external influences, thus enabling the plant to adjust its form to the environment, for example, to the spatial distribution of ecological resources. This paper provides a review on adaptive plasticity in plants.