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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2007-10-04-plant-sex-perfume_N.htm">http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2007-10-04-plant-sex-perfume_N.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=inside-head><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Plants know how to woo a pollinator</span></font></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By <st1:City w:st="on">Randolph</st1:City> <st1:place w:st="on">E.
Schmid</st1:place>, Associated Press<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>WASHINGTON</span></font></st1:place></st1:State>
— Think about strong perfume and a threesome, and what do you get?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>No, try again.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The correct answer is — reproduction by an
ancient type of plants called cycads.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sure, lots of plants use a third party in reproduction
to carry their pollen: Think the birds and the bees.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>But cycads have put their own special spin on the
process, scientists report in Friday's issue of the journal <i><span
style='font-style:italic'><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org">Science</a></span></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Male cycads produce cones that open and emit a
fragrance that attracts insects called thrips, which enter the cones and become
covered with pollen, according to the research team led by Irene Terry of the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Utah</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Then the male cycads heat up — raising the
temperature as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit — and produce a much
stronger odor, driving the thrips out.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The thrips, looking for more cycads, notice the
attractive scent of female cycads and enter their cones, bringing the male pollen
to the female plants.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The scientists call this "push-pull
pollination."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>"People think of plants as just sitting there and
looking pretty and sending out some odors to attract pollinators, but these
cycads have a specific sexual behavior tuned to repel, attract and deceive the
thrips that pollinate them," Terry said in a statement.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>"These cycads heat up, and associated with that
heating is a huge increase in volatile fragrances emitted by the cone,"
Terry said. "It takes your breath away. It's a harsh, overwhelming odor
like nothing you ever smelled before."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Cycads have been around at least 250 million years.
They are gymnosperms, a group that also includes firs and pines. The ones
studied by Terry and colleagues were in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The male cycads increase their temperature between 11
a.m. and 3 p.m. daily during their annual coning season lasting a few weeks.
They generate heat using sugars, starch and fats that normally power everyday
cell functions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Robert Roemer, Terry's husband and a professor of mechanical
engineering at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Utah</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, studied heat
transfer within the cycad cones.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=inside-copy><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The research was funded by the National Geographic
Society, the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Utah</st1:PlaceName> and the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Queensland</st1:PlaceName>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed.</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>Jennifer Tsang<br>
<a href="http://coevolution.org">Coevolution Institute</a><br>
<st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">423 Washington St.</st1:address></st1:Street>
5th Fl.<br>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94111-2339</st1:PostalCode></st1:place><br>
T: 415.362.1137</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>F: 415.362.3070</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'><a
href="http://www.nappc.org">www.nappc.org</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'><a
href="http://www.pollinator.org">www.pollinator.org</a></span></font><font
color="#004000"><span style='color:#004000'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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