amorphophallus
Arnold Trachtenberg (Thu, 22 Mar 2018 06:27:24 PDT)

The image of the heated spadix on the PBS was taken by an energy audit guy who was at the house while an Arum palaestinum was in flower ( image attached). I had asked him to take a picture using his infrared camera of the flower and sure enough the center was a couple of degrees warmer than the surrounding plant material.

One could speculate on the reason from volatilizing the odor producing scent to attract more pollinators to mimicking the rotting meat condition to also attract more flies.

Here's an article on some of the specifics of the heat production.

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep24830/

Arnold Trachtenberg
arnold140@verizon.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Jane Sargent <jane@deskhenge.com>
To: pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
Sent: Thu, Mar 22, 2018 9:12 am
Subject: [pbs] amorphophallus

Wow, turns out that even the local Eastern Skunk Cabbage that grows
behind my house can heat up 15-27 degrees Celsius above ambient, thereby
melting its way out of the ground on days like this and volatilizing its
stench. I prize this plant because I used to keep bees, including bees
in a glass observation hive in the dining room. The earliest pollen they
would bring in was from the skunk cabbage. At the same time, they would
bring in millet grains from bird feeders. A millet grain just fits in a
pollen basket. Then Spring would happen.

Jane Sargent

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