November 3, 2012

Because how can you ever have enough of a plant world-famous for smelling like roadkill left by the side of the highway three days too many? I like to rail on about Amorphophallus titanum from time to time, but I reblogged this more because you rarely get a look at what’s going on below deck. Both busy and a little bit alien. —MN

ichthyologist:

Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum)

The titan arum produces one of the world’s largest unbranched inflorescence, growing up over 3 m (10 ft) in height. An inflorescence is a cluster of smaller flowers arranged together, giving the impression of a single larger flower.

The inflorescence gives off a rotting odour, which attracts insects to the strings of pollen inside the spathe (the petal like structure). As the female flowers mature earlier then the male flowers, the chance of self pollination is reduced.

Etymology:  (Amorphos - misshapen + phallos - phallus + titan - giant. Giant misshapen penis )  

Margaret Woods/Moore on Flickr, TGrayPhotography on Wikipedia Commons

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Filed under: Titan arum carrion plant Amorphophallus titanum plants botany 
July 11, 2012
If you follow botany at even the most glancing angle, you’ve probably heard of the enormous, rank-smelling “corpse flower,” or Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum). I mean, they kicked off an episode of The Simpsons with a spoof of this thing—it’s a poster child for the weird end of botany. Smells like a dead animal, largest unbranched florescence in the world, et cetera. What you might not have heard is that The New York Botanical Garden was the site of the first-ever blooming of this rancid beauty in the United States (it’s not a common event). That was in 1937, and it wasn’t long before the Bronx named it as the borough’s official plant. Kind of weird, considering the plant is native to Sumatra, but the Boogie Down abides by its own rules. (We switched our official plant to the daylily about twelve years ago; that’s a pretty big leap.) Seeing as Selby Gardens in Sarasota, FL is about as close to being my home botanical garden as you can get, I thought I’d offer up my congratulations over the most recent opening of their own corpse flower in June. Here’s to the continued (and some would say masochistic) cultivation of the rottenest-smelling oddity in the plant world. —MN

If you follow botany at even the most glancing angle, you’ve probably heard of the enormous, rank-smelling “corpse flower,” or Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum). I mean, they kicked off an episode of The Simpsons with a spoof of this thing—it’s a poster child for the weird end of botany. Smells like a dead animal, largest unbranched florescence in the world, et cetera.

What you might not have heard is that The New York Botanical Garden was the site of the first-ever blooming of this rancid beauty in the United States (it’s not a common event). That was in 1937, and it wasn’t long before the Bronx named it as the borough’s official plant. Kind of weird, considering the plant is native to Sumatra, but the Boogie Down abides by its own rules. (We switched our official plant to the daylily about twelve years ago; that’s a pretty big leap.)

Seeing as Selby Gardens in Sarasota, FL is about as close to being my home botanical garden as you can get, I thought I’d offer up my congratulations over the most recent opening of their own corpse flower in June. Here’s to the continued (and some would say masochistic) cultivation of the rottenest-smelling oddity in the plant world. —MN

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Filed under: Titan arum corpse plant Selby Gardens 
April 24, 2011
Rare plant is a blooming miracle

Ohio State University looks set to become the newest member of an elite club: Institutions that have managed to get a Titan Arum, aka Amorphophallus titanum, aka the corpse plant to bloom. The enormous, smelly plants are so hard to coax into flower that fewer than 100 have done so in cultivation since the first one bloomed right here at The New York Botanical Garden in 1937. Click the link above to see a live video stream of the plant!

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Filed under: Titan Arum Corpse Plant Ohio State University The New York Botanical Garden 
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