All about the Corpse Flower
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Learn about Amorphophallus titanum: The Corpse Flower
Amorphophallus titanum aka the Titan Arum or the "Corpse Flower" is one of the largest, rarest, and smelliest flowers in the world.
It can grow to a height of 7-10 feet and when it flowers it can have a diameter of 5-6 ft
PLUS (and this is how it gets its name) when blooming it smells of rotting flesh!
This site provides links to websites providing information about the Amorphophallus titanum.
It includes images of the Corpse Flower and videos of its growth and statistics about the dimensions of different examples
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"The titan arum produces one of the largest flowering structures and one of the foulest odours in the plant kingdom."
Kew Gardens
WHAT IS A "CORPSE FLOWER"?
Amorphophallus titanum: The Corpse Flower aka Titan Arum
ALL ABOUT Amorphophallus titanum a.k.a. the Titan Arum a.k.a "Corpse Flower"
Features of the Titan Arum:
* Amorphophallus titanum (aka Titan Arum) is VERY RARE in its native home of Sumatra - and even rarer outside Sumatra. It's classified as Vulnerable (V) on the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.
* The titan arum can be found in the rainforests of western Sumatra, on steep hillsides that are 120 to 365 metres above sea level.
* The Titan Arum VERY RARELY FLOWERS - only once in a 1,000 days once it's reached an age where it can flower
* Titan Arum has flowered 29 times in the USA since records began - but there are fewer than 29 plants.
* This is a plant which grows taller than a man - it's common for them to be over 6 feet tall
* It produces THE BIGGEST FLOWER IN THE WORLD. A single inflorescence can be around about four feet across
* Technically it's lots of very small flowers - male and female - surrounded by a coloured leaf ( a special form of bract - called a spathe) which is commonly mistaken for the flower
* Usually it has a single spathe/flower colored deep burgundy - but it can produce more than one inflorescence (see Bonn video below)
* The flower typically only lasts about three days
* The record for the tallest inflorescence has been set by a Titan Arum located in Bonn, Germany. In May 2010 it produced a bloom nearly nine feet (2.74 meters) tall above the soil. Its total height, including the tuber under the soil, was 11 feet in (3.40 meters)
* Most well know for producing a VERY STRONG STINK of "putrefying roadkill" - hence its nickname of "the corpse flower"
* it's actually the big spike in the middle which produces the smell
* It only smells when the female flowers are receptive to pollen
* The flower is at its fullest (and foulest) during the first 12 hours of its bloom when it is at its peak fertility
* It's thought the stink is to make sure that pollinators find it in its natural habitat of the Rain Forest
* In the wild it's pollinated by carrion-seeking insects
* In 2009, David Attenborough gave it the short name of "Titan Arum" as its proper latin name is very long and sounds a bit rude!
* In 1878, Italian botanist and explorer Dr. Odoardo Beccari discovered it in the rainforest of central Sumatra
* Titan Arums are typically only now found in tropical rainforest in Sumatra or in large botanical gardens
Each time it blooms it typically attracts thousands of people who will stand in line to view this amazing plant
- BBC - Wildlife Finder - Titan arum (video, facts and news)
- Titan arums are true giants amongst flowering plants: the circumference of their huge flowers can be over three metres and they stand three metres high and the single leaf grows to the size of a small tree. Their smell, likened to rotting meat, is so bad it led to the common name 'corpse flower'. Both the 'fragance' and the flower's meat-colouration attract pollinators - carrion flies and beetles. The common name was given by Sir David Attenborough during the filming of the Private Life of Plants series.
- Kew Gardens - Plants & Fungi: Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum) - Species profile from Kew
- Amorphophallus titanum, titan arum, Species profile, Kew
The titan arum produces one of the largest flowering structures and one of the foulest odours in the plant kingdom. With its huge flowering structure rising up to three metres above the ground, and its single immense leaf, it certainly is a giant among plants, as its name suggests. The plant flowers only rarely, and Kew's specimens regularly hit the headlines when they do. - BBC - BBC Two Programmes - Private Life of Plants, FLOWERING, Titan of the flowers
- This is a short video of David Attenborough visiting a tropical rainforest in Sumatra to see the titan arum - the biggest flower in the world - in the wiild.
It only flowers once every 1,000 days and the flower only lasts three days, so few people have seen one. He stands next to a flower that is taller and wider than he is - it is nine feet tall and three feet across. - Visit Kew Gardens: Titan Arum
- One of the most spectacular plants to be found in the wet tropics zone of the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew Gardens is the titan arum.
- Titan arum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "penis", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. (The largest single flower is borne by the Rafflesia arnoldii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant kingdom belongs to the Talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera). It thrives at the edges of rainforests near open grasslands. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still indigenous only to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal,[1] the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (Indonesian: bunga bangkai - bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra).
The popular name titan arum was invented by the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants, in which the flowering and pollination of the plant were filmed for the first time. Attenborough felt that constantly referring to the plant as Amorphophallus on a popular TV documentary would be inappropriate.[2] - National Geographic News - Researchers Uncover Secrets of Gigantic "Corpse Flower"
- The enormous, stinking titan arum, or corpse flower, draws huge crowds to botanical gardens worldwide, who come to catch a rare glimpse, and whiff, of the world's largest inflorescence. Now, as a multitude of new cultivated specimens thrive, botanists are breaking old records for size and longev
- Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - Virtual Herbarium - Amorphophallus titanum History & Statistics
- Ultimate size for a mature Amorphophallus titanum
* inflorescence height: 7 to 12 feet
* leaf height: 20 feet
* leaf width: 15 feet
* tuber (corm): 120 to 160 pounds - Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - Virtual Herbarium - FAQ about Amorphophallus titanum
- About Amorphophallus titanum - Frequently Asked Questions
- Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - Virtual Herbarium - Amorphophallus titanum blooms 1998
- Excellent text and visual analysis of the progress of growth and blooming
- Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - Virtual Herbarium - Amorphophallus titanum 1999 - Harvesting
- Alice the Amorphophallus donates her body to science...
The six foot one and one-half inch Amorphophallus titanum (Titan Arum) specimen was harvested for scientific study on Thursday, September 9. The public was invited to observe DNA sampling and vouchering as the plant was converted to a dried herbarium (museum) specimen. The decision was made to preserve it at its peak since it withers and wilts quickly after blooming. - Gustavus Adolphus College - Titan Arum FAQs | Titan Arum
- * What is the Latin name and what does it mean?
* What is it?
* Is it the largest flower in the world?
* So if it is an inflorescence, then there must be a bunch of flowers-where are they?
* If there are a bunch of flowers on the spadix, how come I don't see a bunch of flower petals?
* What causes the foul smell?
* Why is this flower so big?
* What pollinates the titan arum?
* How is this inflorescence pollinated?
* Why is it so rare?
* Where are the leaves?
* Who spreads the seeds?
* What is the "nickname" of this titan arum?
* Do we have any plants like this that are native to Minnesota?
* How long will the inflorescence last?
* Will it bloom again?
* What is the lifespan of titan arum?
* How big can titan arums get?
* How many species of arums are there?
* Why is it important to conserve these plants?
* Where else has this plant been grown and flowered?
* What can I do to help conserve the corpse flower and similar plants?
* Is it hard to grow?
* What good is it? - National Geographic (July 2003): Researchers Uncover Secrets of Gigantic "Corpse Flower"
- The enormous, stinking titan arum, or corpse flower, draws huge crowds to botanical gardens worldwide, who come to catch a rare glimpse, and whiff, of the world's largest inflorescence. Now, as a multitude of new cultivated specimens thrive, botanists are breaking old records for size and longevity.
Botany of the Titan Arum
the Corpse flower - which bit is which?
TOP THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
1. It's not one flower - technically it's a group of male and female flowers (an INFLORESCENCE), but they always grown together so it can be considered as one flower
2. The big spike in the middle is called the SPADIX- and this is what supports the Inflorescence and creates the smell to get insects to come and pollinate it
3. What people think of as the flower is actually a very special sort of leaf called a SPATHE. This is a bract leaf and it's normally a deep purple colour. It unfurls very slowly from the spadix. Before it starts unfurling it tends to sag and look a bit "pregnant" and its girth widens prior to flowering
- Inflorescence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified.
Inflorescences usually have modified foliage different from the vegetative part of the plant. - Spadix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- In botany, a spadix (pl. spadices) is a type of spike: an inflorescence with small flowers crowded on a thickened, fleshy axis.
- Spathe (Bract) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- A spathe is a large bract that forms a sheath to enclose the flower cluster of certain plants such as palms, arums, and dayflowers. In many arums, the spathe is petal-like, attracting pollinators to the flowers arranged on a type of spike called a spadix.
A bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often (but not always) different from foliage leaves, for example being smaller, larger, or of a different color or texture.
Titan Arum Taxonomy
* Class: Equisetopsida
* Subclass: Magnoliidae
* Superorder: Lilianae
* Order: Alismatales
* Family: Araceae
* Genus: Amorphophallus
Where in the world can you see a titan arum in bloom?
A list of titan arums in cultivation - and which are coming into bloom
This is a VERY RARE plant and there are not many places it grows outside the wild. However you can see it in cultivation - if you wait long enough!
Despite the rarity of this flower, on 22nd and 23rd July 2010 there were THREE Corpse Flowers blooming around the world - see:
* Lois the Corpse Flower - the star attraction of the The Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science - opened 21st July 2010
* Perry the Corpse Flower At the Gustavus Adolphus College - with live webcam - opened 23rd July 2010
* the Corpse Flower in the Koishikawa Botanical Garden in Tokyo, Japan - opened 23rd July 2010
- List of publicised titan arum blooms in cultivation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- List of publicised titan arum blooms in cultivation. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This list includes dimensions of large examples from the past - and where these were located
TITAN ARUM FLOWERINGS IN EUROPE
Titan Arum flowers at Kew Gardens
a timelapse video from Kew Gardens on YouTube
One of the most spectacular plants to be found in the wet tropics zone of Kew Gardens' Princess of Wales Conservatory is the titan arum. With its huge flowering structure (inflorescence) rising over 2.5m above the ground and its single immense leaf, it certainly is a giant among plants, as its name suggests. Coupled with its characteristic foul stench, and the rarity of flowerings, this plant has always hit the headlines.
Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum) at Kew
more about Kew Gardens
After the party's over...........
This is what a spadix of a Corpse Flower looks like AFTER the stench and AFTER the spathe has died and fallen away.
The Corpse Flower in Bonn - Largest Bloom
Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
The plant has an underground tuber, which can weigh up to 75 kg. This tuber produces a single, multipinnate leaf, which can grow up to 6 m tall and nearly as wide. This leaf lives for 9 to 24 months and, during its lifespan, it delivers the energy for a new, larger tuber.
At irregular intervals of several years, instead of a leaf, the tuber produces a colossal inflorescence, which can grow more than 3 m high and 1.50 m wide
Flowering titan arums in Bonn are almost traditional by now - the event in May 2006 marks the ninth and tenth time, after 1937, 1940, 1987, 1996 (two plants), 1998, 2000 and 2003.
The links below provided a lot of technical data about the growth profiles and flowering
- BBC News - Smelly flower is 'world's tallest'
- More than 2,000 people have flocked to Germany's University of Bonn to witness what its botanists say is the world's largest flower.
The Titan Arum is almost three metres tall - beating by seven centimetres the previous record set 71 years ago. - Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum | Inflorescences 1937-2008 in Bonn
- Inflorescences 1937-2008 in Bonn
- Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum | The Titan Arum in Bonn 1996
- It is their rapid growth that makes titan arum inflorescences so especially fascinating. In 1996, the following measurements were taken on the plant flowering in May (Ittenbach et al. 1998):........
- Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum | The Titan Arum in Bonn 2000
- The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) flowered from 6th July to 9th July at the botanic garden in Bonn. From the beginning of June until it started flowering, the bud had grown to the appreciable size of 2.57 m in the space of only 5 weeks - a record for the botanic garden. On a worldwide scale, this made it the third largest plant to have flowered in botanic gardens to date.
Despite the bad weather, from Thursday evening to Sunday, more than 14,000 visitors came to see the titan arum. - Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum | The Titan Arum in Bonn 2003
- The bud of the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) reached a height of 274 cm on Thursday, 22nd May 2003, at 3 pm. At 4 pm, the flower began to open slowly.
The flower, which is the largest in the world, was 274 cm high. This meant that the former world record of the titan arum at Wageningen botanic gardens from about 70 years ago (from 1932) had been broken, having reached only 267 cm. Measured from the bulb, the current inflorescence in Bonn is as tall as 306 cm.
In the two weeks around the flowering, the homepage of the Amorphophallus in Bonn registered over 150,000 hits. - Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum | The Titan Arum in Bonn 2003 (photos)
- Flowering 2003 in Bonn
- Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum | The Titan Arum in Bonn 2006 - three inflorescences
- On 21st March 2005, the tuber was taken out of its pot and weighed; it came to a stunning 117 kg. On 22nd March 2005, it was repotted, and it was only 12 months later, on 9th April 2006, that the first shoot reached the soil surface. To our surprise, on 9th April 2006, a second bud came through, and on 22nd April 2006, it was followed by No.3.
- Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum | Flowering 2006 in Bonn
- Flowering 2006 in Bonn
- Botanic Garden Bonn | Guinness World Record
- Certificate of the Guinness World Record
A titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) with 3 flowers at Botanischer Garten Bonn
Date: 14 May 2006
Used with permission: © Raimond Spekking / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0 & GFDL
Titan arum in Bonn - The worlds largest bloom
a timelapse video on YouTube
In 2003, the very same plant produced the world's largest bloom - officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as 3.06 metres (10 feet tall) on 23 May 2003
Visit the Botanic Garden in Bonn's website for more information on Amorphophallus (in English)
TITAN ARUM FLOWERINGS IN THE USA
Titan Arum Flowers at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
In 2006, the Titan Arum at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens bloomed which pleased both visitors and staff at the facility which had not seen a corpse flower bloom since 1939.
Amorphophallus Titanum blooming at The Huntington in 1999
a timelapse video on YouTube
Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens: Timelapse "Corpse Flower" Blooming (Amorphophallus Titanum) Date of Bloom: 8/1/99 - 8/2/99
When it bloomed at The Huntington in 1999, the gigantic Amorphophallus titanum (a.k.a. the Corpse Flower) created international headlines. A second flowering in 2002, and a third in June 2009 were equally sensational.
LOIS THE CORPSE FLOWER - Museum of Natural Science, Houston
Lois - the Corpse Flower in Houston
In the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
Lois - the Corpse Flower at the Houston Museum of Natural Science started to bloom on 21st July 2010 having debuted on Flickr on July 8th. There was then a long and very pregnant pause which got people twittering all around the world.
Lois is over 6 feet tall and it's expected her bloom when fully open will meausre around about four feet in diameter
As she blooms the smell will change from rotting pumpkin, through rotting fish to rotting flesh!!!
The museum's attendance is up 400 percent, averaging 4,000 visitors a day.
- Amorphophallus titanum: The Corpse Flower - a set on Flickr
- The Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is pleased to present, for your viewing and olfactory pleasure: a celebrity among the plant community, theAmorphophallus titanum.
- Lois | BEYONDbones
- All about Lois the Corpse Flower @The Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
- HMNS Corpse Flower [Amorphophallus titanum] on Vimeo
- Corpse Flowers Videos by the Houston Horticulturalists
- HMNS webcam dedicated to Lois - Our Corpse Flower "Lois" Is Blooming!
- Lois started to bloom on 22nd July 2010
- Lois the Corpse Flower - on Twitter
- smelly flower @HMNS. This is the official twitter feed re Lois
- CorpzFlowrLois - Lois's alter ego on Twitter
- smelly flower @HMNS with some (not always family friendly) but often very funny comments about the whole blooming process
- Twitter feed for Zac Stayton, Lois's horticulturalist
- I'm the horticulturist for the Cockrell Butterfly Center, and an avid outdoorsman.
- Real time results for the #corpseflower feed on Twitter
- Twitter is without a doubt the best way to share and discover what is happening right now.
- You Asked & We Answered! Lois q&a | BEYONDbones
- Lois, our corpse flower, has provoked most questions than perhaps anything we have ever had on display. And while we have been answering them on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and during a live chat with Zac, one of our horticulturists, we wanted to place them in a central location to make sure everyone had access to the information. Nancy and Zac have both worked on answering all your questions and have combined their answers into the blog below.
- Lois' Last Stand :(
- Corpse Flower "Lois"Repotting in the HMNS Greenhouses Thursday, August 19, 10 am
Sign up to be entered in a lottery to win a free pass to attend the next stage in Lois life cycle!
Our horticulturists will be repotting her soon - and you could be one of 25 to have a front row seat for the occasio - Celebrity Makeover: Corpse Flower Edition - 2010-Aug-19 - CultureMap Houston
- Corpse flower Lois stole the spotlight once again this morning at the Houston Museum of Natural Science when they undressed her....
Introducing Lois the Corpse Flower at HMNS
Meet Zac and Lois
The Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is pleased to present, for your viewing and olfactory pleasure: a celebrity among the plant community, the Amorphophallus titanum.
Amorphophallus titanum, more politely referred to as titan arum or the corpse flower, has gained its celebrity status by having one of the largest, rarest, and smelliest flowers in the world. These flowers can reach heights of 7-10 ft and a diameter of 5-6 ft.
The latest on Lois from Zac, her personal horticulturalist
12th July 2010 - 10 days before flowering
Horticulturalist Zac Stayton gives us the latest scoop on Lois.
Lois is doing juuuuuust fine [Corpse Flower] 14th July 2010
a week before flowering
Lois the Corpse Flower is taking her time blooming - but she's doing just fine. Horticulturalist Zac Stayton gives us the inside scoop on just how much she has changed (even if she's not open yet).
The Beginning of the Corpse Flower
21st July 2010
Zac shares the latest on Lois - from her true color, to what she really smells like.
Timelapse Video of Lois
VIDEO Lois: The Documentary [Preview]
The full Lois documentary is now available in the HMNS Museum Store!
PERRY THE CORPSE FLOWER
Perry the Corpse Flower
Gustavus Adolpus College
The seed was originally planted in 1993
- Corpse Flower Live Video
- Gustavus Adolphus College - Our current estimate has Perry blooming Friday, July 23, or possibly later. Check back frequently for updates and visitation information.
- Titan Arum FAQs | Titan Arum
- * What is the Latin name and what does it mean?
* What is it?
* Is it the largest flower in the world?
* So if it is an inflorescence, then there must be a bunch of flowers-where are they?
* If there are a bunch of flowers on the spadix, how come I don't see a bunch of flower petals?
* What causes the foul smell?
* Why is this flower so big?
* What pollinates the titan arum?
* How is this inflorescence pollinated?
* Why is it so rare?
* Where are the leaves?
* Who spreads the seeds?
* What is the "nickname" of this titan arum?
* Do we have any plants like this that are native to Minnesota?
* How long will the inflorescence last?
* Will it bloom again?
* What is the lifespan of titan arum?
* How big can titan arums get?
* How many species of arums are there?
* Why is it important to conserve these plants?
* Where else has this plant been grown and flowered?
* What can I do to help conserve the corpse flower and similar plants?
* Is it hard to grow?
* What good is it? - “Perry” the Corpse Flower Starting to Open - Posted on July 22nd, 2010 by Matt Thomas
- A Titan Arum, or Amorphophallus titanum, otherwise known as a Corpse Flower started to open and emit its repulsive odor around 11 p.m. on Thursday, July 22. It is expected that "Perry" the Corpse Flower will be fully bloomed by the early morning hours on Friday, July 23.
- Thousands Visit Perry the Corpse Flower - Posted on July 22nd, 2010 by Marketing and Communication
- Perry the Corpse Flower, and the rest of the Gustavus Adolphus College community, hosted more than 5,000 visitors during the weekend of July 23-25, 2010. To see a brief video that captures images and comments from Perry visitors and volunteers, scroll down to the end of this article.
- Perry the Corpse Flower is Opening! - Posted on July 23rd, 2010 by Brian O'Brien
- I had noticed via the one-shot-per-minute still webcam that the lights were on in the Perry Room, so went over to Gustavus to turn them off. Upon entering the room, thoughts of the livestock area of the Minnesota State Fair immediately occurred. A distinctly barnyardy odor filled the room. The odor had a number of other notes, as well - the overall impression being difficult to describe accurately.
- Perry’s Zenith - Posted on July 25th, 2010 by Brian O'Brien
- This is a short post on an important milestone in the Perry II saga.
Philip and I noticed on the webcam last night (Friday) that the lights in the greenhouse were not on. In addition, it appeared, from ambient lighting from the hall lights, that Perry had, at last, fully opened. This was at about 10:15. That makes the opening period of the inflorescence roughly 24 hours this time, as opposed to the roughly 5-6 hours that was required for Perry's May 2007 inflorescence to open. - The Leaning Tower of Perry - Posted on July 25th, 2010 by Brian O'Brien
- She/he is, for now, headed for the Great Compost Heap in the Sky (or on the Great Compost Heap on the Ground, or maybe even the Great Compost Heap on an Asteroid or Something, depending on one's philosophical and/or theological interpretation of the concept). Perry's spadix was decidedly drooping this afternoon, bending toward the streaming webcam.
- Snap! Crash! Perry Succumbs… - Posted on July 27th, 2010 by Brian O'Brien
- Perry the Corpse Flower's spadix, gloriously stiff though it was during the past few weeks, lost turgor in an irreversible manner this afternoon. Perry's appendage had been steadily wilting, and Dan R and I were set to make another photo in the Perry Measuring Stick series to document the steadily increasing spadicial curvature.Perry the Corpse Flower's spadix, gloriously stiff though it was during the past few weeks, lost turgor in an irreversible manner this afternoon. Perry's appendage had been steadily wilting, and Dan R and I were set to make another photo in the Perry Measuring Stick series to document the steadily increasing spadicial curvature.
- A Perry Potpourri - Posted on August 1st, 2010 by Brian O'Brien
- a number of miscellaneous items related to Perry the Corpse Flower.
- Perry’s Berries – the Corpse Flower’s Fabulous Fly-Blown Fecundity - Posted on September 13th, 2010 by Brian O'Brien
- Perry the Corpse Flower has surprised us yet again. I was disappointed with the small amount of pollen that I was able to collect during the July 2010 flowering event, and am now shocked at the apparent self-potency of whatever amount of said pollen was produced.
Perry the Corpse Flower - July 6-26 Corpse Flower Overhead Time Lapse
Perry on YouTube
Gustavus Chemistry Professor Brian O'Brien talks about Perry the corpse flower's history.
Gustavus Corpse Flower (Titan Arum) Blooming May 12th 2007
Time lapse video of the Gustavus Adolphus College corpse flower (titan arum) named Perry as it bloomed on May 12th, 2007
TITAN ARUM FLOWERINGS IN ASIA
Corpse Flowers in Japan
A giant Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) started to bloom, at the botanic gardens in Tokyo on July 22, 2010. This is the first blooming of Amorphophallus titanum is in 20 years
- Koishikawa Botanical Garden - Amorphophallus titanum (Becc.) Becc. ex Arcangeli, Araceae - Photo Index of different stages of blooming
- excellent photographic record of different stages of blooming
- BBC News - Blooming flower attracts thousands in Japan - 23rd July 2010
- A rare flower that has bloomed after a gap of almost 20 years has attracted thousands of visitors to a botanical garden in Tokyo.
A rare flower that has bloomed after a gap of almost 20 years has attracted thousands of visitors to a botanical garden in Tokyo.
Standing at more than 5ft (1.52m) tall, the Amorphophallus titanium is native to Indonesia's Sumatra island.
At full bloom the plant emits a pungent smell which one visitor described as "like raw garbage that had grown rotten". - Photo from Getty Images - News, photos, topics, and quotes
- Tokyo University's Koishikawa Botanical Garden chief Jin Murata displays a giant Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) which started to bloom, at the botanic gardens in Tokyo on July 22, 2010. The Indonesian plant has the world's largest blossom, standing 1.5m in height and smelling like decaying fles
CARING FOR A CORPSE FLOWER
Looking after an Amorphophallus titanum
So how do you raise a corpse flower?
- International Aroid Society: The Cultivation of Amorphophallus by Wilbert Hetterscheid and S. Ittenbach
- The information here in is adapted from W. Hetterscheid and S. Ittenbach, 1996, "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Amorphophallus, but Were Afraid to Stick Your Nose Into!!!!!", Aroideana 19: 7-131
This covers:
Temperature | Soil | Fertilizing | Planting | Watering | Dormancy | Vegetative Propagation | Sexual Propagation | Growing from Seed | Pests - Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - An Amorphophallus titanum was repotted
- Audrey III, one of Fairchild's Amorphophallus titanum, was repotted on May 22, 2007, a few weeks after its large leaf died down.
MORE ABOUT THE CORPSE FLOWER
Locations of different bloomings
How big and where?
The largest titan arum inflorescences
1. Bonn (Germany), May 2003, 274 cm
2. Wageningen (The Netherlands), 1932, 267 cm
3. Bogor (Indonesia), 261 cm
4. Bonn (Germany), 2000, 257,5 cm
5. New York (USA), 1937, 256,5 cm
6. Frankfurt (Germany), 1985, circa 250 cm *
(* In contrast to the other flowerings, the Frankfurt plant was measured from the tuber upward (2.7m). For comparison with other plants, therefore, about 20 cm have to be deducted.)
Source: Bonn Botanical Garden
- Botanic Garden Bonn | Amorphophallus titanum
- The Titan Arum in Bonn 2006
Flowering titan arums in Bonn are almost traditional by now - the event in May 2006 marks the ninth and tenth time, after 1937, 1940, 1987, 1996 (two plants), 1998, 2000 and 2003, that we are having titan arums flowering here. This is also why we have chosen the titan arum as the symbol for our garden.
The 1997 inflorescence was used for numerous scientific studies, the results of which were published by Barthlott & Lobin in 1998.
Blogging About Corpse Flowers
- The Stinky Blog - The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
- The Huntington Library Blog dedicated to their Stinky Titan Arum
When it bloomed at The Huntington in 1999, the gigantic Amorphophallus titanum (a.k.a. the Corpse Flower) created international headlines. A second flowering in 2002, and a third in June 2009 were equally sensational. - In All Its Glory - Full Bloom Photo
- The Corpse Flower in all its glory, enjoying the spotlight during the Members' viewing hours Friday night.
- Corpse Flower | BEYONDbones
- Houston Museum of Natural Science - archive of posts tagged "corpse flower" - all bout Lois the Corpse Flower which bloomed July 2010
BOOK: The Private Life of Plants
The Private Life of Plants
Amazon Price: $34.99 (as of 05/30/2012)
Used Price: $3.99
Based on the immensely popular six-part BBC program that will air in the United States during the fall of 1995, this book offers what writer/filmmaker David Attenborough is best known for delivering: an intimate view of the natural world wherein a multitude of miniature dramas unfold. In the program and book, both titled The Private Life of Plants, Attenborough treks through rainforests, mountain ranges, deserts, beaches, and home gardens to show us things we might never have suspected about the vegetation that surrounds us. Attenborough makes the plant world a vivid place for readers, who in this book can enjoy the tour at their own pace, taking in the lively descriptions and nearly 300 full-color photos showing plants in close detail. The author reveals to us the aspects of plants' lives that seem hidden from view, such as fighting, avoiding or exploiting predators or neighbors, and struggling to find food, increase their territories, reproduce themselves, and establish their place in the sun. Covering this remarkable range of information with enthusiasm and clarity, Attenborough helps us to look anew at the vegetation on which all life depends and which has an intriguing life of its own.
It includes his encounter with the Titan Arum in the rainforests of Sumatra
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Comments and Feedback
comments are welcome - but please do not spam
Have you ever seen and/or smelled a Corpse Flower? Tell us what it was like.
ANYBODY can comment BUT please note that all comments are moderated before publication, all html is stripped out of comments and spam is not published.
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May 30, 2011 @ 10:08 pm | delete
- this may sound pretty odd, but i think one of these stinky things' actually blooming a foot away from my fence. the neighbors are freaking out because of its foulness and everyone's talking about weird case scenarios since no one claims to have planted it there, let alone having wanted to plant it there. I believe these only grow naturally in Sumatra, now that's kind of far from where I live, Cebu, PHilippines. your thoughts?
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Bibliophilia
May 31, 2011 @ 3:25 am | delete
- Well you're the same part of the world in tropical terms so I guess it's entirely possible that you've got one. Most of the ones seen in public today are being grown outside Sumatra in botanical gardens
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Cumberland
Mar 11, 2011 @ 1:14 pm | delete
- I had heard of these, now I know a lot about them. Interesting lens on an unusual subject.
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Jan 13, 2011 @ 12:47 pm | delete
- I actually had one growing in my front yard. Didn't know what it was -- didn't even see it at first, just smelled the rank smell. Figured it was a dead decomposing rat -- went looking for it in the yard and found a small orangish cone that was evidentally a very young corpse flower. Still had no idea what it was -- just knew it smelled horrible and wouldn't go away. Figured it was an undesirable weed and destroyed it.
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ShamanicShift
Jan 11, 2011 @ 9:17 pm | delete
- I saw and whiffed in the botanical gardens here in Milwaukee -- SquidAngel BLESSED!
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Bibliophilia
Feb 11, 2011 @ 10:06 pm | delete
- Thanks!
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spunkyduckling
Nov 29, 2010 @ 9:58 pm | delete
- That really must be a spectacular flower. It's size sound scary to me but very interesting too.Thanks for sharing about the corpse flower. Oh well..I am going to sleep now. I have been trying to get some lenses together for the Christmas rush and I am all choked lol.
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Gloriousconfusion
Nov 29, 2010 @ 9:11 am | delete
- This plant (and your lens) is fascinating - although I am keen on gardening I hadn't heard of the corpse flower before.
I have black lilies in my garden, which must be a relation to the larger plant. They smell bad and only last a very few days, so are really rather useless plants for a small garden, but they have beautiful sculptural leaves and are so unusual that, not only do I not get rid of them, but I also encourage others to have cuttings, and there must be 5 or 6 people who have benefitted from my little rarities. Lensrolling to some of my gardening lenses.
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WeddingZazzle
Sep 26, 2010 @ 6:31 pm | delete
- Very interesting. Nicely done lens. Blessed by a SquidAngel :)
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makingamark
Sep 26, 2010 @ 6:57 pm | delete
- Many thanks! :)
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SacredCynWear
Jul 23, 2010 @ 10:59 pm | delete
- Feed ME Seymour! "That's what I think about" Little shop of horrors, only this seems a little scarier!
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theraggededge
Jul 23, 2010 @ 7:24 am | delete
- Fascinating page on a flower that I just would not want in my garden or any garden near by! Mt granny had a small lily that used to pong too and however much she tried to get rid of it, it kept coming back - I wonder what that was?
Blessed :-)
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makingamark
Jul 23, 2010 @ 7:27 am | delete
- Many Thanks! I've not come across one which ponged - just the ones that assault you with their indelible pollen! :)
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