Flower ovens: thermal investigations on heat producing plants

Three thermogenic plants, the elephant foot yam Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, the voodoo lily Sauromatum guttatum and the tropical water lily Victoria cruziana, were investigated during their metabolic flare-up with different kinds of thermometry and infrared false-colour thermography. Excess temperatures of up to 10 K appeared during anthesis together with intensive odours. Areas of male flowers, appendices and floral chambers turned out to be the most active parts in the three inflorescences. The rapid temperature increases of up to 14.2 K h−1 justify the description as “metabolic explosions”. The results are discussed on the background of thermogenic effects in other aroid lilies and in flowers from different plant families, of odour production, adaptive value of the excess temperatures for plant development, and alternative biochemical pathways that provide the necessary energy for the metabolic flare-up.