Respiration, temperature regulation and energetics of thermogenic inflorescences of the dragon lily Dracunculus vulgaris (Araceae)

Abstract

Dracunculus vulgaris is a protogynous arum lily with thermogenic inflorescences consisting of male and female florets on a spadix within a floral chamber. Above the chamber, an odour–producing appendix and a carrion–coloured spathe attract flying insects. The inflorescence shows a triphasic warming pattern. The floral chamber warms weakly on the first night as the spathe opens. Then the appendix produces a large amount of heat and a powerful scent during the first day. As the appendix cools on the second night, scent production ceases and the floral chamber rewarms. Warming ceases when the pollen is shed on the second day. The heating pattern is associated with attraction of pollinating insects by the appendix on the first day, entrapment in the warm chamber at night and release after pollen shedding. The temperature in the floral chamber is regulated at around 18 °C during the second night. The oxygen consumption rate of the florets is inversely related to the ambient temperature as in other thermoregulatory flowers. Conversely, the oxygen consumption rate of the appendix is directly related to the ambient temperature, indicating that it does not thermoregulate. Thus, temperature regulation is not associated with scent production, but with some activity inside the floral chamber.