Floral scent of eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus: Araceae).

Symplocarpus foetidus (L.) Salisb. (eastern skunk cabbage) occurs across a broad geographic range of northeastern North America, blooming in winter between December and March. The inflorescences are well-known for their thermogenic and thermoregulatory metabolic capabilities. The perceptual qualities of their fetid floral aroma have been described widely in the literature, but to date the floral volatile composition remained largely unknown. Here we present a detailed study of the floral scent produced by S. foetidus collected from intact female- and male-stage inflorescences and from dissected floral parts. Our results show a large range of biosynthetically diverse volatiles including nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, monoterpenes, benzenoids, and aliphatic esters and alcohols. We document high inter-individual variation with some organ-specific volatile trends but no clear strong variation based on sexual stage. Multivariate data analysis revealed two distinct chemotypes from our study populations that are not defined by sexual stage or population origin. The chemotype differences may explain the bimodal perceptual descriptions in earlier work which vary between highly unpleasant/fetid and pleasant/apple-like. We discuss the results in ecological contexts including potential for floral mimicry, taking into account existing pollination studies for the species. We also discuss the results in evolutionary contexts, comparing our scent data to published scent data from the close sister species Symplocarpus renifolius. Future work should more closely examine the chemotype occurrence and frequency within these and other populations, and the impact these chemotypes may have on pollinator attraction and reproductive success.

Pollination systems involving floral mimicry of fruit: aspects of their ecology and evolution.

Floral mimicry of nonfloral resources is found across many angiosperm families, with mimicry of varied models including carrion, dung, fungi, insects and fruit. These systems provide excellent models to investigate the role of visual and olfactory cues for the ecology and evolution of plant-animal interactions. Interestingly, floral mimicry of fruit is least documented in the literature, although ripe or rotting fruits play an important role as a food or brood site in many insect groups such as Diptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera, and frugivorous vertebrates such as bats and birds. In ecosystems where fruit represents a frequent, reliable resource (e.g. tropical forests), this form of floral mimicry could represent a common mimicry class with specialization possible along multiple axes such as fruit of different species, stages of ripeness and microbial colonization. In this review, we summarize current research on floral mimicry of fruit. We place this review in the context of floral mimicry of a broader spectrum of nonfloral resources, and we discuss conceptual frameworks of mimicry vs generalized food deception or pre-existing sensory bias. Finally, we briefly review the specificity and complexity of fruit-insect ecological interactions, and we summarize important considerations and questions for moving forward in this field.

Unusual twig "twistiness" in pawpaw (Asimina triloba) provides biomechanical protection for distal foliage in high winds.

PREMISE OF STUDY: Deciduous woody species invest considerable resources in the growth of new foliage and distal stems. This new growth is at risk for mechanical damage from high winds and storms. Pawpaw has large leaves borne distally on thin twigs. Following a storm, pawpaw branches sometimes exhibit a persistent "flipped" orientation, slowly returning upright over 24 h. We investigated biomechanical properties of pawpaw twigs, comparing them to co-occurring species with similarly high leaf areas and loads, which do not exhibit this "flipping". Our goal was to determine biomechanical and structural properties in these species and how variation in form might relate to functional differences. METHODS: We measured flexural stiffness, torsional stiffness, and viscoelastic creep in pawpaw and co-occurring trees Liriodendron tulipifera and Carya cordiformis. We also recorded twig/foliage reconfiguration in high winds. We stained thin cross sections of distal twigs and recorded images using fluorescent light microscopy. KEY RESULTS: Flexural and torsional stiffness increased with twig radius in pawpaw and tulip tree, although torsional stiffness increased more slowly in pawpaw. Pawpaw had a high ratio of flexural to torsional stiffness (EI/GJ) across a range of twig radii and significant viscoelastic creep compared with the other species. CONCLUSIONS: Biomechanical data showed that pawpaw twigs were "twistier" than the comparison species, which were shown previously to alleviate drag-induced damage by reorienting petioles and leaves. Pawpaw has an unusual strategy of low torsional stiffness in twigs, allowing for reorientation of the entire distal appendage, likely minimizing drag-induced damage in storms.

The olfactory component of floral display in Asimina and Deeringothamnus (Annonaceae).

Floral scent is a key component of floral display, and probably one of the first floral attractants linking insect pollinators to the radiation of Angiosperms. In this article, we investigate floral scent in two extra-tropical genera of Annonaceae. We discuss floral scent in the context of differing pollination strategies in these genera, and compare their scent to that of a close tropical relative. Floral volatiles were collected for Annona glabra, Asimina and Deeringothamnus whole flowers and dissected floral organs, using a standardized static-headspace solid phase microextraction method. Scents were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and identified using known standards. The floral scents of these species are highly dynamic, varying between floral organs, sexual stages and species. Maroon-flowered species of Asimina produce 'yeasty' odors, dominated by fermentation volatiles and occasionally containing sulfurous or nitrogenous compounds. White-flowered species of Asimina and Deeringothamnus produce pleasant odors characterized by lilac compounds, benzenoids and hydrocarbons. Annona glabra produces a strong, fruity-acetonic scent dominated by 3-pentanyl acetate and 1,8-cineole. The fermented/decaying scents of maroon-flowered species of Asimina suggest mimicry-based pollination strategies similar to aroids and stapeliads, whereas the pleasant scents of white-flowered species of Asimina suggest honest, reward-based pollination strategies. The scent of Annona glabra is typical of specialized beetle pollination systems common to tropical Annonaceae.