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Phoenix666 writes:

The mystery of why so many plants on New Zealand's otherwise bleak subantarctic islands have very large deeply coloured flowers and giant leaves has been solved by new University of Otago research.

These insect-pollinated "megaherbs" stand out like sore thumbs amongst the islands' other flora which are small, wind-pollinated plants that mainly reproduce by self-pollination or asexual reproduction.

Department of Botany researchers thermally imaged six species of Campbell Island megaherbs – whose mainland relatives are small and pale flowered – and discovered that their flowers and leaves heat up rapidly to make the most of rare moments of sunshine and calm weather.

The researchers found that leaf and flower temperatures of all six species were considerably higher than simultaneously measured surrounding temperatures, with the greatest heating seen in Campbell Island daisies.

The plants are structured to create mini greenhouse effects to attract pollinators.

Original Submission