Shade avoidance is a set of responses that plants display when they are subjected to the shade of another plant. It often includes elongation, altered flowering time, increased apical dominance and altered partitioning of resources. Plants are able to distinguish between the shade of an inanimate object (e.g. a rock) and the shade of another plant due to the altered balance between red and far-red light in the shade of a plant; this balance between red and far-red light is perceived by phytochrome.