I understand that the amorphophallus titanum in Switzerland is about to bloom. That is the gigantic flower that looks like a penis and smells like death, for the unaware.
But here's what gets me: I understand that the flower, over time, has evolved to smell like death to attract flesh flies and carrion beetles which pollinate it. It's large spathe is a deep red color to resemble meat. And during blooming it keeps its temperature up to around mammalian body temp to further make it seem "meaty."
How, exactly, did the plant obtain this information on carrion? It's not like the plant has eyes to see the color of dead meat, nor a nose to smell it, nor the sense of touch to observe the temperature of fresh carrion. Yet over time the plant has obtained three superficial qualities that mimic flesh. And that is the awesome power of evolution, in a nutshell. A creature can evolve to fill a niche with no clear explanation of how it determined the niche existed beforehand.
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