I thought this was interesting:

“In Winter, when most vegetation has recoiled into the Earth, the plant Helleborus foetidus [the Stinking Hellebore] begins to bloom. How does it stand the cold? Scientists with the Spanish National Research Council found that strains of yeast living in the flowers’ nectar warm the flowers up to 13 degrees Fahrenheit by metabolizing sugars. The yeast allows the plant to flourish even with low temperatures and little sun. The researchers call it a “novel mechanism whereby flowers can raise their temperatures.”

--from Smithsonian, May 2010

Next story >Dog Sandbox