"Real Fact" #741

Sep 23, 2009 17:03

So I just helped myself to a Raspberry Snapple Iced Tea from the communal fridge and it seems that under the cap are bits of trivia that they claim are real facts. I am going to post a few random ones as I consume these. I am not going to research the claims before I post them. :)

Real Fact #471: Plants, like humans, can run a fever if they are

Leave a comment

Comments 1

vampymaus September 24 2009, 05:34:24 UTC
Awesome! Here's a short article in Time about this:

Science : Plant Fever

Monday, Sep. 24, 1951

Sick plants are like sick children. They get hot and feverish when they don't feel well. Last week the University of California's Professor C. E. Yarwood told how he put leaves of healthy plants in a well-insulated container and measured their temperature after four hours. He found that the respiration of the leaves (their "breathing" of oygen) had raised their temperature at most 2.7° F. above the outside air. Then he put sick leaves, infected with virus or fungus diseases, in the chamber. In four hours they were running temperatures up to 6.3° F. Sick leaves, Dr. Yarwood believes, breathe more oxygen than healthy ones, and the added oxygen brings on the fever.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up