Take the 2-minute tour ×  I've read that many plants have some
sort of circadian rhythm where they perform a certain action on
a cycle of about 24 hours, like the mimosa plant opening and
closing its leaves. Obviously this is done in order to
synchronize with the sun, but many such plants continue to
perform these actions even when left it constant darkness or
light. It follows that this is the result of some sort of
biochemical pathway, but whatever internal 'clock' is used is
also independent of temperature.  How can these plants perform
certain actions every 24 hours at different temperatures when
the chemical reactions most biochemical pathways use are
temperature dependent?  It would seem like the length of the
cycle should vary widely according to the temperature as it
affected the reactions involved, but instead it stays at a very
constant length very close to 24 hours. How can this be?  (This
is in my textbook, but unfortunately the book doesn't cite any
studies. I would greatly appreciate it if anyon