Voodoo Aspirin

When they flower, some plants actually generate their own heat. The voodoo lily can raise its temperature by 25 degrees. As it does so, it releases a scent that attracts the beetles that pollinate it.

When the voodoo lily generates heat, it burns starch in a way similar to our own bodies. Scientists weren’t sure how voodoo lilies generated their heat and scent until only a couple decades ago. Once they unraveled the complex chemical reactions going on within the plant, they found unexpected surprises. They discovered that a component of aspirin is responsible for raising the lily’s temperature. They remain puzzled about why salicylic acid should lower our temperature, yet raise the temperature of the plant.

Scientists were also amazed when they discovered how many separate complex chemical reactions take place to produce a chemical symphony that helps the lily reproduce. Not only does the lily make its own aspirin, it also makes the same chemicals that are found in the rotting meat that its pollinator beetles feed on. The rising temperature of the plant evaporates the chemicals, creating a scent that attracts the beetles. As the beetles look for food in the flower, they become covered with pollen, which will be delivered to the next lily they visit.

The voodoo lily is an example of how, even in the plant kingdom, there is no such thing as a simple life form. As this plant duplicates several of the processes taking place in animals, we see that all life was created at about the same time by one Designer!

Genesis 1:11
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.”

Prayer: Lord, everything You have made is a cause for wonderment and thanksgiving. I confess I have not given You the thanks that I should have. Forgive and help me to be more thankful for all Your goodness to me. Amen.

Notes: “Do Do That Voodoo That You Do So Well.” Discover, Feb. 1988, p. 10. Photo: Corpse Flower by Sailing Moose – CC BY SA 4.0 Wikipedia.