Topic
Arum
About: Arum is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 200 publications have been published within this topic receiving 3694 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
1 / 2
Papers
TL;DR: Mass spectroscopic analysis of highly purified calorigen extracted from the male flowers of Sauromatum guttatum Schott (voodoo lily) revealed the presence of 2-hydroxybenzoic (salicylic) acid, which functions as an endogenous regulator of heat production in Arum lilies.
Abstract: For more than 50 years the identity of "calorigen," the agent that triggers pronounced heat production in the flowers and inflorescences of some thermogenic plants, remained obscure. Mass spectroscopic analysis of highly purified calorigen extracted from the male flowers of Sauromatum guttatum Schott (voodoo lily) revealed the presence of 2-hydroxybenzoic (salicylic) acid. Application of salicylic acid at 0.13 microgram per gram (fresh weight) to sections of the upper part of the plant's immature spadix, known as the appendix, led to temperature increases of as much as 12 Celsius degrees. These increases duplicated, in both magnitude and timing, the temperature increases produced by the crude calorigen extract. The sensitivity of appendix tissue to salicylic acid increases daily with the approach of anthesis and is controlled by the photoperiod. Thus, at least in some Arum lilies, salicylic acid functions as an endogenous regulator of heat production.
298 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the composition of volatiles from these flowers and from a rotting carcass is strikingly similar and show that the pollinators respond in the same way to chemicals from both sources.
Abstract: These blooms chemically fool flies into pollinating them. Deceit by resource mimicry has evolved as a pollination strategy in several plant species1,2,3 and is particularly elaborate in a plant known as dead-horse arum (Helicodiceros muscivorus; Araceae: Aroideae), which may fool flies into pollinating it by emitting a smell like a dead animal — an important oviposition resource for these insects. Here we confirm that the composition of volatiles from these flowers and from a rotting carcass is strikingly similar and show that the pollinators respond in the same way to chemicals from both sources. This remarkably complex mimicry must have evolved to exploit insects as unrewarded pollinators.
221 citations
1 Jan 1970
TL;DR: A great deal of information is available from the literature as to the location and appearance of calcium deposits in plants, but surprisingly little can be found about the mechanism of calcification, and still less about the ultrastructural features of the event.
Abstract: Raphides of calcium oxalate were among the first objects to be observed under the optical microscope. Leeuwenhoek described the raphides which occur in Arum in a letter to Mr. H. Oldenberg written August 14, 1675. One of the first signs of life in Precambrian rocks were the calcareous filamentous algae of thin limestone reefs which are scarcely different from their counterparts in a modern coralline community. Yet in spite of the fact that deposits of calcium salts in plants are abundant, diverse, and complex and the mineral matter, chemically and physically, indistinguishable from the same substances in animals, there seems to be a lack of studies on the metabolism and structure of plants, comparable to those of bone and shell. A great deal of information is available from the literature as to the location and appearance of calcium deposits in plants, but surprisingly little can be found about the mechanism of calcification, and still less about the ultrastructural features of the event.
204 citations
TL;DR: Van Herk has made a notable investigation of the corresponding tissue in the tropical aroid Sauromatum, and his results will be discussed after describing his own.
Abstract: It has long been known that the spadix of Arum has an unusually fast rate of respiration while the inflorescence is developing. Church (I908) speculated that the resulting rise of temperature within the opening spathe, amounting almost to 0zo C. in A. italicum, might have biological significance in attracting pollinating insects to the flowers; but the metabolic mechanism of the respiration has not previously been studied. Van Herk (I937) has made a notable investigation of the corresponding tissue in the tropical aroid Sauromatum, and his results will be discussed after describing our own.
140 citations
TL;DR: Non-invasive headspace analyses of the odour produced by inflorescences of Arum maculatum L. still attached to plants growing wild in southern England revealed that the major components were 2-heptanone, indole and germacrene B and p-Cresol, which was identified as the major common component.
109 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2017 | 6 |
| 2016 | 13 |