The enticing trap of the wild arum plant
The enticing trap of the wild arum plant
Watch an arum plant trap a fly and cover it with pollen.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzWatch an arum plant trap a fly and cover it with pollen.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Pollen transports sperm cells to flowers' egg cells
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Video by Neil Bromhall; music Spring is in the Air by Paul Mottram (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Time-lapse video of spring flowers blooming.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.An overview of the world's largest blooms: the monster flower (Rafflesia arnoldii) and the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum). To attract pollinators, both produce a rotting-meat scent, which has earned them the nickname “corpse flower.”
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© MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)How flowers attract pollinators.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Dandelions (Taraxacum) are capable of both self-pollination and cross-pollination. Feathery seeds are produced to be dispersed by wind. (Time-lapse and realtime photography)
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzLearn about orchids, including the lady's slipper.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Insects and flowers have coevolved over millions of years, each deriving benefits from the other
Transcript
Spring in central Europe - the first leaves break through the woodland floor. But these are the leaves of no ordinary plant. They are those of the wild arum. Its flowers exude not a sweet-smelling perfume, but the rancid smell of ammonia and excrements. And that’s not all. The purple rod of tiny flowers in its center emits heat. Infrared cameras reveal the secret weapon.
The combination of warmth and putrid smell is produced for one day only, but it's irresistible to a tiny fly. Each delicate-looking flower is an ingenious trap that lures and imprisons the small insects. The flies tumble down the slippery walls into the lower chamber where they are trapped by a circle of bristles above them. The next day, the male flowers open and cover the prisoners in clouds of pollen. The bristles wilt and the flies are paid in sugary nectar before being released back outside. They will now pollinate the next arum plant they visit.
The combination of warmth and putrid smell is produced for one day only, but it's irresistible to a tiny fly. Each delicate-looking flower is an ingenious trap that lures and imprisons the small insects. The flies tumble down the slippery walls into the lower chamber where they are trapped by a circle of bristles above them. The next day, the male flowers open and cover the prisoners in clouds of pollen. The bristles wilt and the flies are paid in sugary nectar before being released back outside. They will now pollinate the next arum plant they visit.