Warm-Blooded Plants

Warm-blooded plants on an alien planet or in uncharted parts of the Earth, should not be excluded a priori, since they certainly do not contradict any natural laws: something not too significantly different in fact, already exists.

Titan Arum is a plant that lives on the Sumatra island, whose peculiarities are the largest inflorescence in the world, an odor resembling that of rotting corpses, and the ability to raise its body temperature by many degrees.

Thermogenesis is achieved by the plant oxidizing large amounts of reserve starch. The energy released is so high that it raises its temperature up to 32 degrees Celsius.

Skunk cabbage is also capable of thermogenesis, and at a level even greater than any other warm-blooded plant or animal: up to 35 degrees higher than its surroundings.

The heat is used by the Titan Arum to increase the volatility of its odorous substances, in order to attract more pollinators, while the cabbage uses it to melt snow and prevent freezing.

It is not impossible for a similar mechanism to be adopted by plants on a large scale.

In addition to the uses already mentioned, a “homeothermic” plant could use the extra heat to accelerate certain processes in their metabolism, or to thrive in freezing climates.

It must be said, however, that it is energetically more efficient to slow down one’s metabolism when the cold arrives, rather than to try to overheat it, an evolutionary strategy that is widespread in nature.