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Why do some Araceae plants produce heat and a rotting-flesh odor?
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Alismatales
Showy and delicate flowers of the flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus).
In the family Araceae, certain species produce heat and a foul, rotting-flesh odor as a specialized reproductive strategy to attract specific pollinators, such as carrion beetles and flesh flies.
This process, known as thermogenesis, allows these plants to warm their inflorescences to temperatures independent of the ambient environment through a specialized pathway in the mitochondria. The heat serves two primary purposes:
- Pollinator Attraction: The warmth helps disperse the fetid odor over a wider area by increasing the vaporization rate of the volatile substances that mimic the scent of decaying animal matter. This deception lures insects that typically seek out carrion for egg deposition or feeding.
- Environmental Protection: It is also believed that this heat generation may protect the plant's tissues from damage in colder regions.
By combining this heat and odor with visual cues, such as mottled colors, these plants effectively trick insects into visiting the spadix to facilitate pollination.123