Open AccessArisaema: Pollination by lethal attraction
Author(s) -
Suetsugu Kenji
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plants, people, planet
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2572-2611
DOI - 10.1002/ppp3.10261
Subject(s) - pollination , biology , pollinator , attraction , zoology , ecology , pollen , philosophy , linguistics
Female individuals of the genus Arisaema are the only plants known to imprison their pollinators permanently. Their lethal pollination system has long attracted the interest of evolutionary biologists and naturalists. Nonetheless, the mechanisms of how Arisaema plants lure their victims to the brink of death are only just being unveiled. Here, I briefly review the unique reproductive biology of these plants, focusing on the possibility of sexual deception to lure pollinating victims, and its role in the evolution of new species.