Self-Heating

the elevation of the temperature of a plant or certain plant organs as a result of intensified respiration. For example, the air temperature inside an opening flower of Victoria or inside the inflorescences of Arum, Colocasia, and other plants of the family Araceae may exceed the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere by 10°to 30°C. The substantial amount of heat generated by the intensified growth and reproduction of lower organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, cause the overheating of moist hay, which may lead to spontaneous combustion. Manure, which undergoes self-heating as a result of decomposition, is used, for example, to heat hotbeds. Self-heating is rarely observed in plants, owing to their large surface of heat exchange. However, when vigorously respiring sprouting seeds or opening flowers are placed in closed vessels, the temperature may increase by 30° to 40°C.