‘Steamy Sex Life of Jungle Philodendrons’

I was surprised to see the article (Oct. 10) concerning the “Steamy Sex Life of Jungle Philodendrons.”

The surprise comes not from the news that philodendrons have hot flowers, but (a) that The Times took so long to find this out and (b) that it had to go to Berkeley to do so.

Truth of the matter is that not only has this fact been known for some years, but the discovery was made right here in Los Angeles by a then faculty member of UCLA’s Department of Biology.

Dr. Dan Walker, now of California State University, San Jose, reported hot philodendron flowers in 1983 in an article in the prestigious journal, Science (“Direct respiration of lipids during heat production in the plant Philodendron selloum (Araceae),” Science, Volume 220, Pages 419-421.

Moreover, philodendron is not alone in generating warmth to attract beetle pollinators. Emeritus member of our department Dr. Charles A. Schroeder has found that Costa Rican Pejiballe palms offer the same inducement.

I appreciate that Berkeley is looked upon as the preeminent intellectual campus of the UC system, not only by out-of-staters, but by Californians such as The Times as well. That hot philodendron flowers were discovered at the offspring institution UCLA hardly calls Berkeley’s reputation into question but does show that the tradition runs in the family.

HENRY A. HESPENHEIDE

Associate Professor

Department of Biology

UCLA