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A Laidback Gardener article published Oct. 12, 2026, describes thermogenesis, the ability of some plants to generate heat. The report explains how heat can help flowers release scents, support visiting insects and, in some cases, protect reproductive structures from cold.
Laidback Gardener reported Oct. 12 on how a range of plants generate heat during reproduction, a process called thermogenesis that can help attract pollinators and support their activity. The article, reproduced with permission from the Friends of the Montréal Botanical Garden and originally published in Quatre-Temps, highlights skunk cabbage, aquatic plants, titan arum and cycads.
In late winter, skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) can warm its internal tissues to nearly 30 °C (54 °F) above surrounding air temperature, according to the report. Its flower structure grows inside a thick, reddish-brown spathe, which the article describes as acting like a miniature greenhouse. The heat can help the plant flower early and protect its reproductive development from freezing conditions.
The warmth also helps disperse the plant’s strong, rotting-flesh-like odour, which attracts pollinators when insects are emerging from winter dormancy. The report says thermogenesis has been documented in 14 plant families; the Araceae alone include more than 100 species known to produce heat. The list of plants associated with the ability continues to grow as discoveries are made.
Heat-producing flowers do not all use warmth in the same way. Giant water lilies and sacred lotus raise their temperature as flowers open, helping release fragrance that attracts beetles. The insects can remain inside as petals close, then leave with pollen. The titan arum, meanwhile, uses energy stored in a large tuber to warm its inflorescence to about 32 °C (90 °F), helping carry its carrion-like scent upward. The article also discusses cycads, whose cones produce heat and infrared radiation that may help attract insect pollinators.
How Plant Heat Supports Pollination
Thermogenesis shows that flowers can shape the conditions around their pollinators, not just offer colour, scent or food. A flower’s warmth may help release odours that are otherwise difficult to disperse, and it can give visiting insects a warmer place to remain active. In some species, the insects leave with pollen after spending time inside the flower.
The report also connects heat production to plant survival. For skunk cabbage, warming can help reproductive structures develop during late-winter cold. The article says researchers have proposed that heat generation in plants such as skunk cabbage and lotus may have helped them reproduce in colder or less favourable regions. That possibility is presented as a proposed explanation, not as a settled account of the plants’ geographic history.
For readers, the subject offers a reminder that pollination can involve complex exchanges. Some plants supply insects with heat as a resource, while insects transfer pollen between flowers. The mechanisms vary by species, and the source describes several roles rather than a single explanation for thermogenesis across the plant kingdom.
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From Skunk Cabbage to Cycads
The article frames thermogenesis as an example of convergent evolution: heat production occurs in unrelated plant groups, including Araceae, water lilies, lotus, cycads and several other families. Many examples are described as ancient plants with fleshy reproductive structures that rely on insects for pollination. The range of species involved does not mean every plant produces heat to the same degree.
In the aquatic examples, a flower’s reproductive stages are tied to changes in temperature. According to the report, beetles are attracted to fragrance as a flower opens, may be held inside when it closes, and become covered with pollen before it opens again. In titan arum, the heat comes from energy stored in its tuber; the article says its large, hollow spadix channels the odour upward.
Cycads are a separate example. The report describes nearly 400 tropical and subtropical species, almost all thermogenic, and says their cones emit infrared radiation that may function as a thermal beacon. It also describes nocturnal insects with infrared-sensitive antennae and a pollination relationship in which male cones provide pollen and egg-laying sites. These details illustrate different routes by which heat can be part of plant reproduction.
“The heat produced also provides insects with a thermal reward and, in some cases, the promise of suitable egg-laying sites.”
— Laidback Gardener, citing the Friends of the Montréal Botanical Garden report
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What Researchers Still Do Not Know
The report does not identify the individual studies behind several scientific claims or provide methods, dates or measurements beyond the examples described. It also does not specify how many species across all plant families have been confirmed as thermogenic. The figure of 14 plant families is given without a survey date or detailed accounting, while the article says the list is still expanding.
Some explanations are presented as possibilities. The cycads’ infrared emissions may act as thermal beacons, and heat production may have helped some plants extend their ranges; neither is described as definitively established in the article. The report also says that researchers have proposed thermogenesis may be widespread across the plant kingdom, while stressing that the effect is not equally pronounced in all plants.
The article offers no new experiment, research team announcement or formal finding. It is an explanatory report based on material published by the Friends of the Montréal Botanical Garden. Further details about the evidence and the status of the cited hypotheses are not provided in the source material.
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Further Discoveries on Plant Thermogenesis
The report gives no timetable for new research or a specific next study. It says the known list of thermogenic plants is growing as new discoveries are made, so future findings may add species or clarify how heat functions in different plant-pollinator relationships.
Researchers would need to establish the mechanisms and benefits species by species before drawing broad conclusions. For now, the source describes established examples alongside proposals about infrared attraction and the possible role of heat in expanding plant ranges. No additional findings or follow-up announcement are included.
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Key Questions
What is thermogenesis in plants?
Thermogenesis is the ability of some plants to generate heat, particularly in reproductive structures. The report describes it in plants including skunk cabbage, lotus, titan arum and cycads.
Why does skunk cabbage produce heat?
According to the report, warmth can help protect the flower’s development from cold and disperse its strong odour, which attracts pollinators in late winter.
How do lotus flowers use heat?
The report says giant water lilies and sacred lotus warm their flowers as they prepare to open. The heat helps release fragrance that attracts beetles, which can carry pollen between flowers.
Is heat production found in all plants?
No. The article says thermogenesis has been documented in 14 plant families and notes that researchers have proposed it may occur more broadly, though not equally strongly in all plants. That broader idea is presented as a proposal.
What remains uncertain about plant thermogenesis?
The source does not provide a complete species count or detailed evidence for all the proposed functions. It describes some ideas, including infrared signals as pollinator beacons and a role in range expansion, as possibilities rather than settled conclusions.
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