[from Gary Cziko 970212.1545 GMT]
The current issue of _Scientific American_ (Feb. 1997) has an article by
Roger S. Seymour with the above title on how some plants are able to
regulate their "body" heat.
"Some plants produce extraordinary heat when they bloom. A few even
regulate their temperatre within narrow limits, much as if they were
warm-blooded animals"
I had long realized that all living forms had to be constantly engaged in
controlling their perceptions, but I never suspected that plants could be
"warm-blooded."
In the philodenron, this is done enzymes which are involved in generating
heat that are activated by low temperatures and inhibited by higher
temperatures. This is not the usual way I would think of perception, but I
suppose it funtionally works out to be much the same thing.
--Gary