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thermogenesis in Alocasia Amazonica
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Posted by calathea england (My Page) on Tue, Mar 4, 08 at 14:37
| I am reading the very nice book of Deni Bown, "Aroids", and in it she spends some time on the sexual life of these plants, which seems quite an interesting and complicated one. Among the weird things is the phenomenon of Thermogenesis, in which the spadix heats up, probably in order to disperse the scent better.
Now my Alocasia Amazonica 'Polly' is flowering. (Before congratulating me let me point out that I bought it 3 days ago, so the flowering is definitely not due to my ministrations of love water and humidity.) The spadix is about 4 cm long, slowly emerging from the sheath (is that the correct term?).
Very exciting. Now Bown in her book tells about "liquid crystals" which could be painted on the spadix in order to make the change in temperature evident to the eye (I can't imagine sticking a thermometer in there anyway).
Has anyone any idea what kind of liquid crystals to use? Ever done something like this before?
Am I weird? This post reads like something out of some kinky forum. Even to myself it sounds a bit risque, but Bown writes that "One thing above all makes aroids stars of the botanical world and that is their strange and fascinating sex lives." so I guess I am not that out of tune here...
Many thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: thermogenesis in Alocasia Amazonica
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| Deni's book is a great one for aroiders, I think. It certainly taught me a lot. The sheath is a spathe. Can't help with the liquid crystals though, but the heating up thing is very interesting. And no you are not kinky ; ) |
RE: thermogenesis in Alocasia Amazonica
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Hi
Have grown many aroids for many years but have not tried any of the things you suggest. Sounds like it would be interesting though.
One aspect of Aroids in general that has always fascinated me is the production of chemicals to emulate the "aromas " of other things. Such as rotting flesh. Obviously the purpose of this is to attact the pollinators ,in this case flies. they even go so far as to generate heat to mimic the effect of rotting flesh even more. In fact they are so good at it that the flies will actually choose the aroid over the real thing lol
Since flies are such bad pollinators compared to other types of insects or even mammals such as bats. I wonder at what point they evolved this strategy and why??
The flies of course are looking for a place to feed the maggots so they lay eggs So the aroid had to evolve more chemicals to either destroy or limit the maggots because they will eat the seeds. lol
Obviously if the aroid became too good at fooling the flies then eventually would be no more flies lol Then no more aroids??
Isn't nature incredible??
gary |
RE: thermogenesis in Alocasia Amazonica
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| Thanks a lot for your answers. The silence had become deafening- and very embarrassing... thanks edleigh for the kind words. Actually garyfla it even appears that thermogenesis happens at specific times during flowering, and at specific times of the day! Anyway, I have decided to let my Polly alone, since experiments are going to be dangerous and costly (you don't want to know how much these plants cost in England). That said, however, since Lamarck already in the 18th century had noticed thermogenesis in Arum Italicum, and since the latter costs 1 penny/cent a dozen around here, I'm soon out to the garden center to buy a number, and then I'll link up with some chemist and figure this story of the liquid crystals out. Stay tuned! |
RE: thermogenesis in Alocasia Amazonica
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I had one of these flower on me last year. I had no idea that it would undergo thermogenesis. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Lucky you, and the Arum italicum for 1 penny/doz. Im very jealous. |
RE: thermogenesis in Alocasia Amazonica
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| Thermogenesis in aroid inflorescences is very familiar to me as an aroid breeder. Just this morning about 8AM, I was out checking for pollen and open blooms on my Alocasias and some of the ones that were ready to receive pollen were quite warm to the touch, almost hot! They stay this way for an hour or two, and then cool off. Once I envisaged using a little temperature sensor (a flat wafer-type that could be taped or stuck to the spadix) in order to monitor spadix temperature. I have obtained such a sensor with a very long cable that plugs into my computer, and monitoring software to go with it as well. I think it would make for great data, especially if used on conjunction with actual hybridization work. So far, though, I've managed to get my crosses to work even without it. LariAnn
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