Amorphophallus titanum generates it's own heat?

petershaw · August 01, 2022, 06:37:05 AM

While visiting the UCSC plant on Saturday the host made a comment that the flower generated its own heat to raise the temperature of the inflorescence to 90 F.

Do these plants share this biological function that skipped the reptiles? Is it possible that the amount of stored energy and some photosynthesis metabolized during its growth releases enough waste energy as heat?

petershaw · August 01, 2022, 06:38:47 AM

The inflorescence is also failing to open due to the cold weather.

Judy Glattstein · August 01, 2022, 06:52:22 AM

If I remember correctly, Symplocarpus foetidus also generates heat. In this instance, to help melt its way up through cold, frozen soil.

Bulbous · August 01, 2022, 02:31:32 PM

A colleague of mine discovered that salsalate regulated the heat production. He used the voodoo lily as his study subject. He had a fancy infrared camera that could easily measure the elevated temperature. His name is Ilya Raskin and he is at Rutgers.

Raskin, I., A. Ehmann A., W. R. Melander and B. J. D. Meeuse. Salicylic acid: a natural inducer of heat production in Arum lilies. Science, Vol. 237, No. 4822, pp. 1601-1602, 1987. (Cover article)

David Pilling · August 02, 2022, 03:51:26 AM

Arum are thermogenic, click on the link at the start of this post to see some observations of this on the PBS wiki (one by me with a non-contact thermometer and a photo Arnold took with an infrared camera)

Over at the PBS list, search for thermogenic:

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist?q=thermogenic

and we talked about snowdrops

petershaw · August 02, 2022, 06:10:18 AM

fantastic, I love learnings new things!

Peter

Arnold · August 02, 2022, 01:01:09 PM

My understanding is that the exothermic process of the flower further imitates the environment of rotting flesh.

This provides more than one attractant for pollinators.

Robert_Parks · August 03, 2022, 10:53:08 AM

Quote from: Arnold on August 02, 2022, 01:01:09 PMMy understanding is that the exothermic process of the flower further imitates the environment of rotting flesh.

This provides more than one attractant for pollinators.

Plus the rising column of air distributes the scent more widely.

Robert
with a couple Amophophallus flowers coming along (allowing me to identify a mis labeled plant from a commercial source)...the other aroids blooming are tiny minatures