Skunk Cabbage and Thermogenesis

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The Skunk Cabbage is a species from the Arum family and is located in the Eastern and Western North America. In the Eastern North America, the Skunk Cabbage is known as Symplocarpus foetidus, and in the Western North America, it is known as Lysichiton americanus. It is seen plants in the Arum family are monocotyledon flowering plants where the flowers are borne on a spadix, which is enclosed by a leaf-like bract called a spathe (Ito-Inaba et al., 2009). This plant was given the name Skunk Cabbage because of its distinctive “skunky” odour that it emits due to the breaking and tearing of its leaves. This odour will permeate the area where the plant grows, and can even be detected in old, dried specimens. Although, it produces such a pungent smell, it is not a poisonous odour; but it attracts its pollinators like flies, stoneflies, bees, and beetles and also serves another purpose to discourage large animals from disturbing or damaging this plant. Although, this plant is very unique due to the “smelly” odour it emits, it is also exceptionally due to its ability to maintain an approximate constant temperature of 20 degrees around it spadix, which bears both male and female flowers) even in below freezing conditions (Takashasi et al., 2009; Ito-Kikukatsu et al., 2004). This ability to grow in such conditions is due to its thermogenetic properties of the species of plant, the Skunk Cabbage is a thermogenic plant that blooms in early spring and maintains temperatures, as seen above in all-weather conditions. In this essay, I will focus on the Skunk Cabbage and its unique characteristics that allows it to survive and prosper by the means of being a poisonous species, distinctive odour, and unique metabolic mechanisms Anatomy an... ... middle of paper ... ... amount and it can be even found in below freezing conditions. Heat production in the Skunk Cabbage is seen mainly in the spadix which can generate enough to melt snow around it due to its temperature regulation mechanism found in the tissue. This mechanism shows the inverse relationship that the rate of respiratory heat production increases as the ambient temperature decreases. Secondly, thermogenesis is used to attract pollinators by volatizing odours and spreading them through the air. Insects that are attracted by the heat and/or scent of the Skunk Cabbage are encouraged to increase pollination, aiding in reproduction. Therefore, in the ability to getting to know the Skunk Cabbage we enter into a unique world, where a plant is no longer an ordinary plant, but one that has many distinctive features and mechanisms that allows for its survival and growth.

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