The Titan Arum

Stamp from Indonesia

2008-04-01T23:12:00.001-07:00

Titan Arum in Madison

2008-04-01T23:09:00.000-07:00

Take a Clothes Pin! Second Blooming "Corpse Flower" 6/28/2005 time_600pm

Second Blooming "Corpse Flower" 6/28/2005 time_600pm
Originally uploaded by Luna Type.

At 6:00 pm on 6/7/01, the 101 inch tall Titan Arum or "corpse flower" in the UW-Madison Botany Greenhouse blooms. The flower gradually opened over the course of 6 hours, as shown in a time-lapse series on UW's site
� UW-Madison University Communications 608/262-0067
Photo by: Michael Rothbart
Date: 06/01 File#: color slide

http://marienhoftuin.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html

Arum titan (Amorphophallus titanum)

2008-04-01T23:07:00.000-07:00

Le réveil du titan !

Cette plante, aux proportions monumentales, appartient à la famille des arums. Originaire des forêts tropicales de Sumatra, elle fut cultivée pour la première fois, comme curiosité, en 1879 au Jardin Royal de Kew à Londres.

Pendant une partie de l’année, la plante se présente sous la forme d’une feuille unique de 2 à 5 mètres de haut, au limbe découpé porté par un pétiole épais et charnu qui émerge directement du sol.

Puis la feuille dépérit et il ne subsiste, en phase de repos, qu’un tubercule dont le poids augmente chaque année (le tubercule cultivé à Brest pesait 30 Kg en janvier 2007).

C’est seulement au bout d’une dizaine d’années que le tubercule produit une fleur pouvant atteindre 2,70 mètres de haut. Comme souvent chez les plantes de la famille des arums, la fleur de l’Arum titandégage une odeur nauséabonde, dont l’intensité est proportionnelle à la taille de la fleur !

Pour pousser, la plante nécessite un sol profond, fertile et humifère. Elle doit être régulièrement arrosée en période de croissance.

Le défrichement intensif des forêts tropicales indonésiennes est responsable de la régression rapide des populations sauvages de cette espèce. Cultivée au Conservatoire Botanique depuis 1995, ce plant a fleuri en 2003.

Après une période de repos de 5 mois (de janvier à mai 2007), le tubercule de l’Arum titan cultivé à Brest a produit un nouveau bourgeon qui est en train de sortir de terre.

Malheureusement,le bourgeon de notre Arum titan a encore donné une feuille cette année.
Il faudra donc attendre au moins l'été 2009 pour avoir peut-être une fleur !

Titan Arum in Sydney

2008-04-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

A maior flor do mundo
e também a mais fedidinha...

Titan Arum

Clique pra ver uma gif legal da *fedorosa* florescendo!
Não postei porque é muito pesada (literalmente).

Centenas de pessoas visitaram os Jardins Reais Botânicos de Sydney
para admirar a maior planta do mundo, a chamada *flor-cadáver*,
devido ao odor repulsivo. De 1,33 metro de diâmetro, esta
Arum Titan abriu plenamente sua coroa entre a noite
de quarta-feira e a quinta-feira desta semana.

Esta é a segunda vez que a planta floresce na Austrália. A primeira
aconteceu há vários anos em Cairns, no nordeste do país.
A Amorphophallus titanum, nome científico da planta,
floresce duas ou três vezes durante seus
quarentas anos de existência.

Então é verdade quando dizem que nos menores
frascos estão os melhores perfumes...

http://www.pullga2.blogger.com.br/2004_11_01_archive.html

Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Elephant Ear Titan Aroid)

2008-04-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

180 (300)cm, Elephant Ear Titan Aroid is a tall species from Malaysia, cultivated throughout the tropics. Makes a leaf similar to those in Amorphophallus titanum, above a nicely white to dark brown checkered stem. Its large, dark maroon red inflorescence unfolds just above the ground. For any rich, well drained to humus rich and sandy soil in a partially shaded spot, keep always warm at a minimum of 20°C in summer, respectively dormant corms in a completely dry soil at a minimum of some 15°C in winter. The large tuber may gain up to 10kg in weight. Sow seeds in a slightly moist, rich, well drained soil, keep pots at 20°C to 27°C, turn seedlings to a partially shaded place in summer, respectively to a sunny spot during winter months.

http://www.rareplants.de/shop/product.asp?strParents=6&CAT_ID=95&P_ID=8265

Titan Arum in Thailand

2008-04-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

ดอก Titan Arum หรือดอกบุกยักษ์ ดอกไม้ใหญ่ที่สุดในโลก ได้บานเป็นครั้งแรกในเมืองไทยที่สวนนงนุช จังหวัดชลบุรี เมื่อวันที่ ๒๒ มิถุนายน ๒๕๔๖
Titan Arum หรือ บุกยักษ์ มีถิ่นกำเนิดเพียงแห่งเดียวในโลก ในป่าดิบชื้นพื้นล่างในเกาะสุมาตราตอนกลาง มีชื่อวิทยาศาสตร์ว่า Amorphophallus titanum อยู่ในวงศ์ Araceae ชื่อวิทยาศาสตร์แปลเป็นภาษาไทยได้ความหมายว่า ต้น "ลึงค์ยักษ์แปลง" คือแปลงกายให้เหมือนลึงค์แต่ไม่ใช่ลึงค์ ทางสวนนงนุชได้นำเข้ามาจากสวนพฤกษศาสตร์โบกอร์ (Bogor the botanic garden) ประเทศอินโดนีเซีย เพื่อมาทดลองปลูกภายในสวนเมื่อห้าปีก่อน

บุกยักษ์เป็นพืชที่มีลำต้นกลมอยู่ใต้ดินเพื่อสะสมอาหาร ดอกบุกยักษ์เริ่มงอกโผล่พ้นดินเมื่อวันที่ ๗ มิถุนายน เจริญเติบโตขึ้นวันละ ๑๐-๑๕ ซม. และดอกเริ่มบานเมื่อวันที่ ๒๒ มิถุนายน ลักษณะกลีบดอกด้านในเป็นสีแดงปนสีม่วง ดอกชนิดนี้บานแค่สองวัน ก่อนจะเหี่ยวเฉาไปตามธรรมชาติ วัดความสูงของดอกได้ ๑๓๕ ซม. และดอกบานเต็มที่วัดเส้นรอบวงได้ ๑๕๖ ซม. ขณะที่ดอกบาน จะส่งกลิ่นเหม็นเน่าคล้ายหมาตาย เพื่อล่อแมลงมาผสมเกสร ดอกส่งกลิ่นโดยปล่อยน้ำมันระเหยออกมาจากแก่นกลางดอก อบด้วยอุณหภูมิภายในดอกที่สูงกว่าข้างนอกหลายองศาเซลเซียส แล้วใช้ตัวลึงค์เป็นปล่องกระจายกลิ่นออกไป ดังนั้นความใหญ่ของดอกน่าจะเกี่ยวกับศักยภาพในการกระจายกลิ่นในพื้นที่ป่าดิบที่ไม่มีลม
ภายในโคนดอก ประกอบด้วยดอกเล็ก ๆ จำนวนมากอยู่ภายใน โดยดอกตัวผู้อยู่ด้านบนของดอกตัวเมีย กล่าวได้ว่าดอก Titan Arum เป็นดอกรวมขนาดใหญ่ที่สุดในโลก (ดอกเดี่ยวใหญ่ที่สุดในโลก คือดอกบัวผุด) ในเกาะสุมาตรา เคยมีดอกบุกยักษ์โตเต็มที่สูงถึง ๓ เมตร วัดความกว้าง ๒ เมตร รัฐบาลอินโดนีเซียเคยตีพิมพ์ภาพดอกบุกยักษ์บนธนบัตรประจำชาติใบละ ๕๐๐ รูปี
หลังจากบุกยักษ์ออกดอกเป็นครั้งแรกแล้ว นักพฤกษศาสตร์ไม่อาจตอบได้ว่า อีกกี่ปีบุกยักษ์ต้นนั้นจึงจะออกดอกอีกครั้งหนึ่ง

http://www.sarakadee.com/feature/2003/07/titan_arum.htm

Titan Arum in in Massachusetts

2008-04-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

The Titan Arum, a rare plant also known as the “corpse flower” for its strong odor while flowering, was front-page news in local newspapers as it bloomed in Smith’s Lyman Conservatory for several days in early August. This was the first time the endangered plant has ever flowered in Massachusetts. Photo by Fish/Parham.

http://images.google.co.id/imgres?imgurl=http://www.smith.edu/newssmith/fall2005/images/Img0066.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.smith.edu/newssmith/fall2005/newsbriefs.php&h=326&w=491&sz=51&hl=id&start=87&sig2=2JvboSqiDxixSMQC4fdjiw&um=1&tbnid=Z1FwKlGByM6PNM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=130&ei=oBzzR_2mJpm66gOjwozJCQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtitan%2Barum%26start%3D80%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Did%26sa%3DN

Warm weather prompts Corpse Flower to bloom early

2008-04-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

Earth News: London

Feb 05, 2007

Unseasonably warm weather may have tricked the world's smelliest plant into blooming in the middle of the northern hemisphere winter, said botanists at the Eden Project where the native of Sumatra is housed. The warmth of 2006 and mild winter to date have encouraged the Titan Arum or Corpse Flower into a phenomenal growth spurt and into flower - an event that usually happens only once every six to nine years. Its smell "is a cross between rotten cheese, dog poo and something dead." It is HIGHLY ABNORMAL for the plant to flower in winter. "Last year's unprecedented warm temperatures and high sunshine levels and the extremely mild winter we are currently experiencing have to be considered as a factor in this RARE occurrence."

http://earthfrenzyradio.blogspot.com/2007/02/warm-weather-prompts-corpse-flower-to.html

Titan Arum in Royal Botanic Garden, Kew

2008-04-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

A flowering of titan arum always generates intense interest

Watch it grow - November 2007 flowering

This titan arum opened late-afternoon on Sunday 4 November and was fully open on 5 November.

click on any image to enlarge
	24 October 2007 This latest flower is very small in comparison with previous ones, but it is also the latest in the season that one has ever flowered at Kew.
	25 October 2007
	26 October 2007
	29 October 2007 In the last few days this has put on quite a growth spurt.
	30 October 2007
	31 October 2007
	1 November 2007
	2 November 2007
	3 November 2007
	4 November 2007 Comparing this image with previous flowerings, this looks like it will be out any day now, possibly even tomorrow, Monday - it's very hard to predict exactly, so keep checking for daily updates.
	5 November 2007 Titan arum has flowered
	6 November 2007 The titan arum would usually have started to close up by now, but is continuing to give a remarkable display. Pollen has been taken and sent off to the Eden Project, where they have a flower due to open within the next week.
	8 November 2007 After giving a great display the titan arum is just starting to close up and fade

Kew's recent flowerings

In 1996 a titan arum flowered at Kew for the first time for many decades. Six years later we saw an unprecedented three flowerings in as many months. This was the first evidence that Kew's horticulturists had finally cracked the secrets of cultivating this rare and unique plant. Since then there has been one flowering in 2003, three more in 2005, and two in 2006.

1996 - A plant donated by Leiden University's botanic garden flowered at Kew and attracted vast crowds and intense media interest from around the world.

2002/3 - the specimens which flowered in 2002 and 2003 were grown both from seed donated to Kew in 1995 and from tiny micropropagated plants received from the botanic garden in Bonn in 1995. To build up the storage tubers, they were potted on into 750 litre containers in 1999 although they were in full leaf at the time. When the leaves died down, the largest tuber was placed in a 1,000 litre pot and the two smaller ones were put into new compost in 750 litre pots. For the next 14 months, they were grown behind the scenes at Kew in our Tropical Nursery. The plants are fed regularly with a high potash liquid fertiliser.

In January 2002, while the plants were dormant, they were potted up again. The largest of the three tubers, one of those grown from seed, weighed 75 kg (although since then we have had one, repotted in winter 2004, which weighed an astonishing 91kg). As the new bud started to emerge the plant was transferred to the Princess of Wales Conservatory. During the day, the temperature is at least 24ºC and at night it drops no lower than 19ºC. The humidity is maintained at 70-80% – mimicking the conditions prevailing in the plant’s original rainforest habitat.

2005 to today - thanks to an increase in the number of plants held at Kew, but equally the enhanced understanding and skill of Kew's horticulturists, we have seen several flowerings at Kew each year.

Titan Arum Blooming Event UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, 2007

2008-04-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Watch it progress chronologically. For the latest image, see bottom of this column or look at top of left column.
Titan Arum, Amorphophallus titanum


		18 June 2007
		We first began to suspect that the small bud emerging from the Arum's large pot could possibly be a flower and not a leaf on Friday, June 8th. Pictured here on June 18th, the bud has expanded to 31" tall and 8.5" wide.


		19 June 2007
		The Titan Arum flower bud continues to expand - growing 2" in height since yesterday. It will remain in the greenhouse until nearer to opening (estimating 10 - 14 days from now), when we plant to move it outdoors to the greenhouse courtyard for its public debut!

		20 June 2007
		Today the sheath of the bud has just begun to separate - we can see the immature spike poking out, as well as the immature bract portion of what will become the flower. The overall height today is 34".

		21 June 2007
		The spike has grown by 5 inches today - poking further out of the protective leaf sheaths. The folds of what will develop into the frilly "cloak", called a spathe are more visible. Even though we can see these parts of the developing inflorescence, at 39 inches "Bella" is still a long way from blooming.

		22 June 2007
		3 more inches today. Bella measures 42" high and 12" wide. Greenhouse horticulturist, Jennifer Alm is inspecting the progress.

		23 June 2007
		Bella grew 4” today, so is now measuring 46” tall and continues to “fatten” . The protective bracts surrounding the developing flower are still intact, which tells us the flower has at least a week before opening.

		25 June 2007
		Bella grew 6" since Sat. and stands 52" tall. The sheath leaves have begun to fall away as the flower grows to 30" in girth. No smell and no color yet. John Denti, orchid curator, measures Bella.

		26 June 2007
		Bella grew to 56 " tall on Tuesday. The last large sheathing leaf has fallen and there is a hint of maroon color inside the cloak. We turned her around as we have been looking at the back side. Note groove on the horn.

		27 June 2007
		Bella stands at 57 " - growth slowing. More color and texture forming. No smell. She has been moved a few feet to positing for public viewing. Harwood Gardens manager Teri Edwards sports new "Bella" T-shirts now available.

		28 June 2007
		Bella is 59" tall, and growing fatter. She shows more maroon color on the frilly spathe, here with Buffie Stephens, Media Relations Coordinator at UNCCharlotte.

		June 29, 2007
		Bella is 60" tall - turning maroon inside the spathe. No smell yet. She was on the web cam all night. Here she is with Sue Richards, head volunteer at UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens. Looks like Sunday may be big day - or not. Watch this site. watch the web cam.

		June 30, 2007
		Bella is 60 inches tall, hasn't changed much. here she is with gardener Connie Byrne. We are told by expert Alan Galloway that she will likely open Sunday night. We also had visit today from Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh where Bella was born in 2001.

		July 1, 2007
		The day has come -- Bella, the Titan Arum began opening early this morning - around 5 am! Come visit today to experience the smell from 8am - 8pm (Sunday only). Gary O'Brien examines the flower before taking its portrait.

		July 2, 2007
		Bella's smell has ended (can still get a whiff if you get real close), and her spathe is drawing in, but she is still a sight to see. The withering of the flower is happening more rapidly than we expected. Visit today or early tomorrow, as the flower may be closed up by tomorrow afternoon. Pictured is Suzanne Mellichamp, who was inspired by Bella's coloring to dye her hair.

		July 3, 2007
		Bella is behaving like a shrinking violet - the flower has withered rather quickly and will be mostly closed by tomorrow morning. Despite Larry Mellichamp's grimace, the flower no longer stinks. We will continue to allow her to "fade" naturally, until she collapses (perhaps by Friday). Then we will be watching expectantly for a leaf to emerge. The greenhouse will be open to visitors on July 4, from 10 am to 3pm.

		July 4, 2007
		Bella's horn collapsed today around 2pm. We are sad to see the flower go, but have enjoyed the excitement this plant has brought to the greenhouse and gardens. Soon, we will remove the collapsed flower, and wait for a leaf bud to emerge from the tuber. The giant leaf should be up and expanded by the beginning of August. If we are lucky, Bella will grace us with another flower in 3-5 years. Thank you for visiting and come back often!
		July 5, 2007
		Bye, Bye Bella! "All good things must come to an end" -- and some of them quicker than others. We will most likely cut off the giant faded flower ceremoniously on Friday. As soon as the leaf bud emerges from the tuber we will begin again growing this amazing plant and hope for another flower in 3-5 years. Thank you to all who visited, shared your excitement, and supported us. We hope you will come visit the greenhouse and gardens many times before Bella blooms again!

Where does the Titan Arum come from?
The Titan Arum grows in the moist, shady jungles of Sumatra, Indonesia.

What a weird-looking flower – is it really the largest flower in the world?
The Titan Arum produces the largest unbranched, inflorescence in the world. The largest of these recorded in cultivation was over 9.5 ft tall! An inflorescence is a structure containing multiple flowers. The Titan Arum bears a special type of inflorescence that looks like one gigantic flower. The tall slender central spike actually bears hundreds of tiny male and female flowers at its base. These little flowers at the base of the spike are hidden by the pleated sheath surrounding it. This sheath will open up at bloom and look like a sort of giant, frilly, maroon petal. Botanists call this sheath and spike type of inflorescence a "spathe and spadix".
Plants that produce these spathe and spadix blooms are in the arum family of plants. A local member of this family is the woodland "Jack-in-the-pulpit" Jack is the spadix and his pulpit is the spathe.

Does it really smell that bad?
Yes, but not for long! The plant produces waves of odor that have been variously described as smelling of rotting animal, dung, and rancid cheese. The Indonesian name for the Titan translates as “corpse flower”. Thankfully, these odors are only produced for 8 to 24 hours – corresponding to the “ripening” of the tiny female flowers, followed by the tiny male flowers at the base of the spike. In the wild, the odor can carry for up to a half-mile attracting specific pollinators. Scientists have observed carrion beetles, carrion flies, and sweat bees visiting the Titan Arum in Sumatra.

How old is your Titan?
Our titan arum, “Bella” is fairly young to be blooming – it is only about 8 years old.

Will it flower again?
We don’t know. It is certainly possible, as other gardens have had individuals bloom again – usually after 3-5 years. In the wild, individuals are estimated to bloom 3-6 times in a 40-yr life span. Plants in cultivation normally don’t live that long.

Where did you get “Bella”, your Titan Arum plant?
We got ours as a small tuber from Tony Avent, of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh. Tony is a fan of many plants in the same genus as the Titan Arum. Some species of Amorphophallus are actually winter-hardy in the Carolinas - these plants are much smaller than the Titan Arum, but fascinating, and even smelly in their own right. The Titan Arum is extremely sensitive to cold and must never be exposed to temperatures below 50 degrees F.

Why did you name her Bella? … Is it really a “she”?
First off, Bella is actually an “it”, since the “flower” is both male and female. Akin to naming a child, we decided on "Bella" for a couple of reasons. Bella is Latin for beautiful, and we are so proud of this flower that, despite its smell, we can only think of it as wonderfully beautiful. Additionally, the shape of the spathe surrounding the spike is that of an inverted Bell.

Is it rare?
In its natural habitat it has a limited range, but until recently was uncommon (but not rare) within that range. Unfortunately it is now becoming rarer and rarer – due to habitat destruction and illegal collecting of the tubers. A good number of botanical gardens around the world (and even individuals) have specimens, but they require specific growing conditions to thrive, and there is no guarantee they will ever bloom. Being lucky enough to have one bloom in cultivation is the rarity.

Where are the stems and leaves of this plant?
The Titan Arum grows out of a large, underground corm, which is very much like a bulb or tuber. The corm is actually a compressed underground stem that looks like a roundish, flattened potato. The corms of some Titans have weighed in at over 200 lbs!
At different stages during its life the Titan's corm is either dormant underground, or bearing a giant compound leaf or a solitary, giant inflorescence. In other words, the leaf and the flower never exist on the plant at the same time. After the Titan blooms, its amazing “flower” will wither and collapse, but the corm below ground will remain. After a short period a giant leaf will emerge. The leaf is spectacular in its own right. Its stalk is up to 12’ tall (taller in the wild), colored with splotches in shades of green and cream, and appearing somewhat like a giant, lacy umbrella. Although it looks like a weird sort of tree, it is truly just one giant, compound leaf! The leaf can last up to a year, before it turns yellow and dies. Then the plant must go through a period of rest (dormancy) – during this time is exists only as the underground corm.

Where can I find out more about the Titan Arum?
The web is full of information on this fascinating, dramatic plant. Most gardens and universities that have had one bloom have pictures and information. Search for “Titan Arum” or “Amorphophallus titanum”.

Bella bloomed in the early morning of July 1, 2007.

http://gardens.uncc.edu/Titan%20Arum.htm

Titan Arum in Eastern Connecticut State University

2008-04-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

Amorphophallus titanum 'Rhea'
Titan Arum or Corpse Flower

Blooming: August, 2007

A brief history of our ECSU specimens and other information can be found below the photographs.

August 20, 2007 1 PM

August 21, 2007 2 PM

August 21, 2007 2 PM

August 23, 2007 12 Noon
Spadix 116 cm, apex 122 cm above soil
Spadix 31° C, Petiole 31° C

August 22, 2007 1 PM
Spadix 103 cm, apex 109 cm above soil
Spadix 27-28° C, Petiole 28° C

August 23, 2007 12 Noon
Spadix 116 cm, apex 122 cm above soil
Spadix 31° C, Petiole 31° C

August 24, 2007 12 Noon
Spadix 130 cm, apex 136 cm above soil
Spadix 34° C, Petiole 34° C

August 25, 2007 12 Noon
Spadix 137 cm, apex 142 cm above soil
Spadix 34° C, Petiole 34° C

August 26, 2007 1 PM
Spadix 148 cm, apex 154 cm above soil
Spadix 31° C, Petiole 31° C

August 27, 2007 1 PM
Spadix 155 cm, apex 161 cm above soil
Spadix 29° C, Petiole 30° C

August 28, 2007 1 PM
Spadix 161 cm, apex 167 cm above soil
Spadix 35° C, Petiole 35° C

August 29, 2007 1 PM
Spadix 167 cm, apex 171 cm above soil
Spadix 34° C, Petiole 34° C

August 30, 2007 1 PM
Spadix 171 cm, apex 173 cm above soil
Spadix 36° C, Petiole 36° C

August 30, 2007 5:30 PM
No fragrance
Spadix 32° C, Petiole 32° C

August 30, 2007 6:30 PM
Weak "sauerkraut" smell

August 30, 2007 7:30 PM
Intense "sauerkraut" smell

August 30, 2007 8:30 PM
Intense "sauerkraut" smell extending
into stairs to parking lot!
Spadix tip: 29° C
Spadix subapical: 33° C
Spadix mid: 26° C
Spadix color-change: 29° C
Spadix base: 26° C
Male flowers: 25° C
Female flowers: 24° C
Petiole 27° C

August 30, 2007 9:30 PM
Intense "sauerkraut" smell extending into stairs to parking lot!
Nauseating inside greenhouse...and needing a shower before bed!
By 10:30 PM fragrance easily noted in the Shafer/Burr breezeway
Spadix: most of its length is 30° C...except base

August 31, 2007 7:00 AM
Intense smell abated considerably at perhaps 10% of maximum!

August 31, 2007 9:00 AM
Fragrance further abated perhaps 5% of maximum!

August 31, 2007 12 Noon
Fragrance further diminished!

August 31, 2007 3 PM
Fragrance very faint...nearly gone
Male flowers still undehisced

September 1, 2007 12 Noon
Fragrance essentially gone
Silicone camera skin has more of it than the inflorescence!
Spadix: 171 cm long, Spadix 26° C., Petiole 31° C.

September 2, 2007 1 PM
Spadix collapsing at tip
Fresh pollen collected and refrigerated for Lehman College

September 3, 2007 1 PM
Spadix collapsing in middle
Accumulated pollen collected for Lehman College

August 30, 2007 8:30 PM
Closer view of base of spadix with flowers below
and surrounded by deep purple and slightly irridescent spathe

August 30, 2007 8:30 PM
Yet closer view of base of spadix with flowers
Male flowers are white and above purple female flowers

September 1, 2007 12 Noon
Male flowers shedding sticky yellow pollen downward over
Purple styles and buff stigmas of female flowers

September 3, 2007 2 PM
Spathe cut away
Fallen pollen collected for Lehman College

September 3, 2007 2 PM
Individual male (above) and female (below) flowers

A brief history of the ECSU Amorphophallus titanum specimens

In 1993 the late Dr. James R. Symon found an Amorphophallus titanum plant in fruit while he was filming episodes for the BBC video, The Private Life of Plants. Upon returning to the US from the plant's native home of Sumatra, he shared seeds from this one plant with conservatories and universities.

In 2001, one of those seeds had produced a plant in bloom at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. Harry Luther and the staff collected the pollen from 'Mr. Magnificent' (as this plant was named), and sent it to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. There, blooming a few days later, was another plant from the seeds collected by Dr. Symon. 'Big Bucky' was pollinated in June 2001 and produced ripe fruit in October 2001.

Mohammad Fayyaz, the curator at University of Wisconsin, offered seeds from this pollination to the community of greenhouse curators. Ross Koning, who manages the greenhouse at Eastern Connecticut State University, requested a seed. Mo Fayyaz sent a ripe red fruit that arrived on November 2, 2001 and, as luck would have it, it contained two seeds! One seed (named 'Rhea') was planted in a year-round 55% shade greenhouse and the other (named 'Hyperion') was planted in a full sun greenhouse. The soil was Fafard #2 and the seedlings were placed on continuous feed of 20-20-20 fertilizer adjusted to deliver approximately 100 ppm nitrogen. Photoperiods were natural for Connecticut and light was unsupplemented.

Since 2001, the plant in sunny conditions, named 'Hyperion,' has thrown off some smaller corms and its plastochrons have been more rapid and with regular and longer dormant periods, so its cormels have been separated at repotting times. The plant in shaded conditions, named 'Rhea,' has produced consistently larger leaves with longer plastochrons and with very few and very short dormant intervals, making it nearly impossible to have a time to separate any cormels and to easily repot her. The plants were repotted during dormant intervals from small pots to larger ones, but then as leafy plants into 18 gallon recycling bins. When the recycling bin was being deformed by 'Rhea,' the leafy specimen was moved to a 110 gallon horse trough (with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage of course!). In Winter 2006-2007 one 'Rhea' corm produced a magnificent leaf that was about 2.5 meters tall with a blade-span of more than 4 meters! When this leaf senesced in spring, it was predicted that August 2007 would perhaps be the first flowering time for 'Rhea.' And so it has.

Naming our ECSU specimens

I have chosen the names for the two genotypes in concert with ECSU's mission as a premier state liberal arts university. The Latin binomial, Amorphophallus titanum, includes the epithet titanum. One of the common names of this species is 'Titan Arum.' In classical Greek mythology, the Titans were the twelve or thirteen children of earth ('Gaia') and sky ('Uranus'). The Titans ruled the earth until they were overthrown by Zeus and the rest of the Olympic pantheon. I decided to use Titan names for our two genotypes based on the conditions under which they have been grown to date.

The choice of Hyperion was obvious as this Titan is associated with light. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no Titan is associated with shade or darkness. But since our shade-grown genotype was our first to flower and has three more corms ready to flower in a year or so, it has been far more prolific than Hyperion. Rhea was the prolific Titan mother of most of the Olympians, notably including Hades (god of the dark underworld). So the photographs shown on this page are of genotype, Rhea.

Thank you, Nicole Krassas and Rita Malenczyk, for meaningful discussion about the Titans of classical Greek literature.

Thinking about Rhea and her parents

In the list below you will find links to photos of the pollen (Selby) and ovule (UW) parents of Rhea, our ECSU specimen. Almost nothing is known of the inheritance of traits of these plants. As you can see in the early photos of Rhea, its spadix turned quite dark; this purple color appears to be closer to the phenotype shown in the photo of the UW maternal parent than in that of the Selby paternal parent. However, you might notice in the later pictures of Rhea that this purple color is part of what is sacrificed in the spadix to generate heat and volatilize the fragrance chemistry so that it ends up looking more like the photo of the Selby parent. So the parental photos may differ primarily on the basis of time of photography rather than some genetic component.

In a similar way, the color of the spathe in the parental and offspring photos is open to some question. Rhea's spathe is a deep red-purple color with considerable iridescence. Natural light, fluorescent light, and flash photographs alter the appearance of the spathe color considerably. So the differences in the "family photos" may be due more to lighting rather than to some inherited genetic difference.

I wondered whether Rhea would have (like UW) or lack (like Selby) the light picotee edge color on her spathe. This turns out to be rather misleading too. Rhea's spathe at opening time lacked any kind of edging, but the edge of the spathe rolled inward as time passed after peak opening. In the past-peak photos you can see the light-green outer surface was exposed around the edges looking like a picotee edge color, but in fact was just a matter of inrolling senescence! So the Selby photo might be at peak and the UW photo might be past peak, indicating the difference is perhaps more a matter of timing rather than something to do with pigmentation.

Now if you are into critical thinking, you may have observed me arguing two different arrangements of timing in the photos of the two parents. Obviously more study is needed with a lot more detailed information than is available at this time. It is illogical to be argue both ways at the same time (as far as I know now).

If you have been reading this page intently and critically you should also be able to answer these two pedagogic questions, given the choices of names for the two genotypes at ECSU: What would be the proper Greek Titan name for the specimen at the University of Wisconsin? What would be the proper corresponding Greek Titan name for the specimen at Selby Gardens in Florida?

Here is another critical thinking question: What is inappropriate about using either a Titan (god--e.g. Hyperion) or a Titanide (goddess--e.g. Rhea) name for an Amorphophallus titanum plant? Hint: the parenthetical emphasis is important as is observation of the photos shown above on this page.

Pertinent External Links

Here are some links to:
The Wisconsin Progenitor Page
The historic archive of blooming events of Amorphophallus titanum in captivity (ECSU is bloom #121 world-wide, venue #28 in US and #2 in CT)
A photo of the "mother" of ECSU's titan arum in bloom at University of Wisconsin
A photo of the "father" of ECSU's titan arum in bloom at Marie Selby Gardens. Photo courtesy of Harry Luther.
A photo of the fruits...one of which came to ECSU in 2001
A time-lapse movie of our ECSU spathe opening from about mid-day until darkness prevented further filming. Thanks so much to Lisa Curtiss who spent much time setting up the web camera, software, and interfacing issues while working in the sweltering heat of our "tropical rainforest environment."
A sibling of Rhea blooming at Lehman College, CUNY in September 2007, hopefully pollinated with Rhea's pollen. Photo credit: http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2007_09_stinkyflowr.jpg

ECSU CONTACT:
Ross Koning
Professor of Biology
koning@easternct.edu
860-465-5327
Biology Department
Eastern Connecticut State University
Willimantic, CT 06226

http://plantphys.info/greenhouse/titan2007.html

Collector’s Corner

2008-04-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Amorphophallus titanum ‘Titan Arum’ or ‘Corpse Flower’. This giant aroid from Sumatra can reach 20ft tall with its single, umbrella-like leaf, and its bloom is classed as the largest un-branched inflorescence in the word at over 9ft tall. The morbid ‘Corpse Flower’ name comes from the smell of rotting flesh and the color of spoiled meat associated with the bloom, pollinated by flies and beetles in its habitat. In cultivation it has been rare and never fails to be newsworthy when one blooms. Only a few private collections and botanical gardens had this giant in their collections due to its former rarity.

http://www.tropiflora.com/creport/cr17-1/p6.html

Stinky Flowers

2008-04-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

The titan arum lily (Amorphophallus titanium) originates from Sumatra, and stands at 6.9 ft high. The plant flowers for only two days before collapsing. The blood-red flower is renowned for its hideous smell, which is said to be a cross between burnt sugar and rotting flesh.

http://www.tmatos.com/2005_04_01_tmatos_archive.html

Titan Arum Flowers In Sydney's Royal Botanical Gardens

2008-04-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - 03 Nov 2006
Titan Arum Flowers In Sydney's Royal Botanical Gardens (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Taking, Display, Root Vegetable, Australia, Sydney, Botanical Garden, Visit, Titan Arum, Closer, Human Interest, Look, Corpse Flower, Tropical Centre, 72330507

http://www.viewimages.com/Search.aspx?mid=72370036&epmid=1&partner=Google

Titan Arum in Charlotte

2008-04-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

University of NC in Charlotte Titan Arum (60 inches), July 3 2007

The Titan Arum is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world

http://picasaweb.google.com/tpberego/UNCCTitanArumAndMcMillanGreenhouse732007/photo#5105683895319963698

world’s largest flower?

2008-04-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

The titan arum “flower.” Among its properties:

It’s big - up to 3 meters. The plant itself can be even larger.
It rarely flowers. Its root takes years to store up enough energy, apparently.
It attracts flies, so it smells like rotten meat. (It’s not carnivorous.)
Its real name is Amorphophallus titanum (I’m not making this up.)

So this thing has been on display at the Australian Royal Botanic Gardens, and one just flowered today, I guess. The one in the middle is what I am referring to. The one on the left is about to flower. The one in the back with leaves is in “growth” mode. I put “flower” in quotes because it’s not really one flower. The stalk and wrap are just appendages. The actual multiple flowers are all on the stalk, and there are two kinds, male and female, which mature at different times to prevent self-pollination.

An Australian paper had this to say:

A native of central Sumatra’s rainforests, the rarely seen flower is said to be the world’s largest flower, standing more than a metre tall.

On the few occasions one does bloom, it produces the stench of rotting flesh, giving rise to its other common name, the carcass flower.

The plant’s powerful pong is matched by its equally unappealing scientific name. Amorphophallus titanum, explained Steve Bartlett, a senior horticulturist at the gardens, “means huge deformed —

— Okay, Steve, let’s cut you off there,

The last time a titan arum flowered in the gardens, in October 2004, 16,000 people queued for a look. It was only the second time one had opened in Australia, and one of the few times in the world, outside Indonesia.

That plant was grown from seed collected in Sumatra in the early 1990s. Sydney horticulturalists later took cuttings, successfully producing two new plants

“It was originally thought they couldn’t be grown from cuttings,” said Mr Bartlett, also responsible for plant propagation at the gardens. To his delight, both new plants produced buds.

It turns out one reason people grow these (besides the novelty) is because they are endangered. And they are endangered because, well let’s see, they waste their time growing a huge root so they can occasionally grow a huge stalk; they try to get insects to pollinate them by deceit instead of mutual benefit; a decade may pass without flowering, and then, when they do flower, they don’t self-pollinate, so they may not ever produce seeds for a new plant unless there are several of them nearby. Clearly, these things are badly evolved. Just like panda bears. Terrible.

http://scripts.mit.edu/~zong/wpress/?p=18

The Return of the Titan (United State Botanic garden)

2008-04-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

In June 2007, a titan arum plant belonging to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, began to bud. On June 25, the 57-inch tall plant was brought to the U.S. Botanic Garden for display because our Conservatory provides an opportunity for the public to see the plant. Staff and visitors alike speculated as to when this titan arum would be in full bloom and when the “corpse-like” smell it emits would become apparent. The spadix had grown one foot - to 69" - by June 30, and the dramatic blooming process commenced late that afternoon with the unfurling of the spathe and the emission of the rotting meat odor. The bloom was fully open by early the next morning, July 1. Within 24 hours, the spathe closed up again and blooming had ceased.

Additional information: This gigantic plant, Amorphophallus titanum (commonly known as “titan arum”), is a true wonder of Nature. The renown of the titan arum comes from its great size -- it is reputed to have the largest known un-branched inflorescence (“flower structure”). The plant is native only to the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. The titan arum emerges from, and stores energy in, a huge underground stem called a “corm.” The plant blooms on an unpredictable schedule, when sufficient energy is accumulated, usually after several years. The developing inflorescence initially appears as a pale green, bud-shaped structure composed of a “spathe” enclosing a central spike-like “spadix.” At first hidden inside the spathe, the spadix is revealed as the entire structure swells. At full bloom, the spathe is fully unfurled to reveal a crimson interior. The ultimate height of the spadix depends on the energy accumulated in the corm, and the speed of the development depends on day and night temperatures. The average recorded height of an inflorescence is about 5 feet, and the largest one in cultivation was 9 feet, 2 inches. In their natural habitat, titan arums can grow up to 12 feet tall!

Photo Chronology of the Bloom

Related Photos (Click for Hi-Res Version):

Growth Chart for the Titan Arum
Date/Time
Height
6-25-07 8am 57"
6-26-07 8am 60"
6-26-07 6pm 62 3/4"
6-27-07 8am 64 1/2"
6-27-07 4pm 65 1/4"
6-28-07 8am 67" (37" Girth)
6-29-07 8am 68 1/2"
6-30-07 8am 69"

http://www.usbg.gov/gardens/Titan-Arum-Blooms-2007.cfm

Titan Arum in Cambridge

2008-04-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

Description: London, England: Kew Gardens: Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) seeds ripening

Description: Cambridge, England: Botanic Garden: Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) (midnight)

Description: Cambridge, England: Botanic Garden: Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) (morning)

http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/html/PA309665e.html

Titan Arum in University 0f California

2008-04-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

June 6, 2003

Giant, stinky flower, 'Ted,' set to bloom

By Andy Fell


	Gary Chan, left, and Ernesto Sandoval of the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory prepare to move Ted the Titan.

A rare and unusual plant is about to bloom at UC Davis; but at 6 feet tall with a scent of rotting meat, it likely won't be featured in anyone's wedding bouquet.

Amorphophallus titanum, also called Titan Arum or "corpse flower" because of its smell, is native to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. This particular specimen was grown from seed at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, and conservatory staff have nicknamed it "Ted the Titan."

Ted is 8 years old and this will be its first bloom. The plant's bud first poked through the soil around May 15 and now stands just above 3 feet tall. It looks like a small, green-speckled missile with a skirt.

When the bloom opens, probably sometime after June 10, it will unfurl a ribbed, frilly petal-like structure known as a spathe, green on the outside and reddish-purple on the inside, around the base of a long conical structure, the spadix, 5 or 6 feet tall. The giant flower-like structure, which bears many small flowers at its base, will last for only about a day and a half before collapsing.

Titan Arum gives off its scent, which has been compared to rotting fish, bad eggs or a dead elephant, for about eight hours after the flower begins to open.

The stink is produced when the plant converts starch stored in the underground stem into chemical energy, which heats up volatile oils inside the flower and sends them wafting on surrounding air currents. The smell attracts flies and carrion-eating insects that pollinate the plant, said conservatory curator Ernesto Sandoval.

"Flies will go a long way for dead meat," he said.

The plants take up to 10 years to produce a flower and rarely bloom in cultivation.

Amorphophallus spends most of its life as an underground stem called a corm. Once a year, the plant puts out a single green leaf that lasts about six months. Eventually, it puts out a flower shoot instead, hoping to attract flies carrying pollen from another of its kind. After all that excitement, it goes back to one leaf a year, but may flower again after a few years' recuperation.

Other recent flowerings of Amorphophallus plants have been "Tiffy" at California State University, Fullerton; "Mr. Stinky" at the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables, Fla.; and an unnamed plant in Bonn, Germany. The German flower set a new world record with a height of nearly 9 feet. The flowers have attracted big crowds of curious, if somewhat nauseated, visitors.

Ted the Titan will be on display to the public on campus daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting on June 11 and continuing until the bloom collapses. Its bloom status, location and parking recommendations will be reported online at http://greenhouse.ucdavis. edu/conservatory.htm.

The botanical conservatory serves the university and public communities as an educational facility, research resource and genetic diversity preserve. It houses more than 3,000 plant species in more than 150 families, including examples from most of the world's climatic regions.

Titan Arum in Quail Botanical Gardens, San Diego

2008-04-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Quail Botanical Gardens Displays Giant "Corpse Flower" Plant Amorphophallus titanum

Bloomed October 6, 2004

Amorphophallus in full bloom at Quail, July 15, 2002. Photo courtesy of Claire Ehrlinger.

San Diego, CA, September 23, 2004— It's big, it's bad and it's back. Quail Botanical Gardens (QBG) announced today the return of the Corpse Flower , the enormous, rare and very smelly Amorphophallus titanum , or titan arum, considered by some the superstar of the plant kingdom. It's on display now in Quail's Bamboo garden.

Click here for Directions, Hours, and Admission
Click here for Daily Growth Records.

Two years ago Jim Booman, of local Plants for Kids, a renowned grower of rare and carnivorous plants, loaned Quail Botanical Gardens an Amorphophallus titanum , or Corpse Flower plant, and this year its sister plant is making its debut. Native to Indonesia, the plant rarely blooms in its 40-year life span, and not often in cultivation. For about eight hours during its blooming cycle it emits an odor likened to "rotten eggs or road kill" to attract pollinating, carrion-eating beetles, hence the name Corpse Flower.

"It is always a thrill to have such a rare and exotic visitor to the Gardens," commented Julian Duval, QBG Executive Director. "The titan arum is truly one of the wonders of nature, and we're very fortunate to be able to display it to the public," added Duval. "But the plant is unpredictable and opens quickly and doesn't last long. Either call the Gardens (760-436-3036 x206) or check its progress on the web site (http://www.qbgardens.org) to make sure you see—and smell— it in its full glory," said Duval. The Corpse Flower will be displayed in the Bamboo Garden during its visit.

The plant begins as a large tuber. It then sends up a solitary pointed shoot that can grow at the rate of six inches a day, sometimes reaching 12 feet in height. Not a lot is known about the plant as it is difficult to find in the wild, especially flowering. The Corpse Flower plant has only been seen in bloom about 20 times since it was first displayed in New York in 1937.

Victorian Waterplatters reach full size at Quail Botanical Gardens. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Jones.

Not the Only Superstar at QBG
Every year at this time the spectacular Victorian Waterplatters reach their largest growth and bloom. Nicknamed "Waterlilies on Steroids" by QBG's Director of Horticulture, Dave Ehrlinger, and located in the pond in the Bamboo Garden, these plants are supersized. The floating leaves are five to six feet in diameter and can support up to 150-200 pounds. The huge showy flowers are 12 to 18 inches across. Large plants can produce several hundred blooms.

In the 19th century these spectacular plants were discovered and named after Queen Victoria of England. They were carefully grown in large pools in the newly invented greenhouses of that era. Today these rarely cultivated plants are still prized specimens.

About Quail Botanical Gardens
The mission of Quail Botanical Gardens is to actively participate in the conservation of rare, threatened and endangered plant species, to serve the botanical and horticultural needs of San Diego County, and to exist as an urban retreat. Quail Botanical Gardens is a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit organization supported through earned revenues, gifts from individuals, corporate sponsorships, and grants. For more information, visit http://www.qbgardens.com, or call 760-435-3036.

Media Contact: Cynthia Jones
Quail Botanical Gardens
(760) 436-3036, or
619-204-4231


Jim Booman, owner of the two Titan Arums on loan to QBG. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Jones.	Amorphophallus blooming timeline July, 2002. Photos courtesy of Claire Ehrlinger.


Sue Zesky, office manager at Quail Botanical Gardens, records the growth of the Corpse Flower plant twice a day. It's currently averaging two inches per day, but will accelerate closer to its bloom. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Jones.	Sarah, daughter of QBG employee experiences the distinctive smell. Photo courtesy of Claire Ehrlinger.

Bloomed October 6, 2004

Amorphophallus Growth Data 2004
Date	Time	Height (in.)	Circumference (inches)
15-Sep	16:10	24.5
16-Sep	10:30	25.5
16-Sep	16:00	26.5
17-Sep	9:00	27.5
17-Sep	16:15	27.75
19-Sep	13:00	29.25
20-Sep	11:00	31
20-Sep	15:40	32
22-Sep	10:15	37
23-Sept	10:30	41
24-Sept	11:00	43	32
25-Sept	10:25	45	34
26-Sept	10:00	47	35.5
27-Sept	8:00	49.5	38
28-Sept	8:00	51	38
29-Sept	8:00	52	NA
30-Sept	8:00	53+	39
01 - Oct	8:15	55	40
02 - Oct	noon	56+	40
03 - Oct	11:30	56.5	41
04 - Oct	10:30	57.5	42
05 - Oct	11:45	59	42
06 - Oct	7:45		Blooming!
07 - Oct			Closed
12 - Oct			Falling over

September 23, 2004 -10 am

September 24, 2004 - 10 am

September 26, 2004- 10 am

September 27, 2004 - 8 am

September 29, 2004 - 8 am
Sheath has totally fallen away.

September 30, 2004 - 8 am

October 1, 2004 - 8:30 am

October 2, 2004 - 5:00 pm

October 3, 2004 - 11:30 am
Sue Z., QBG staff member has been faithfully measuring "Mr. Stinky" each day.

October 5, 2004 - 11:45 am
Started opening sometime during the night

October 6, 2004 - 7:45 am
"It smells like porta-potty!". exclaimed Sarah, daughter of Dave, the Director of Horticulture.

October 6, 2004 8 am

October 7, 2004 8:15 am
Beginning to close but still smelly. The smell comes in waves.

October 11, 2004
Closed yet smelly

October 12, 2004
Falling over, still smelly

http://www.qbgardens.org/news/articles/09232004.shtml

Titan Arum in China

2008-04-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.nmgnews.com.cn/information/article/20070706/99850_1.html

Dictionary for Titan Arum

2008-04-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

Noun

amorphophallus - any plant of the genus Amorphophallus

By Wordnet Dictionary

amorphophallus: n. 1. any plant of the genus Amorphophallus.
‖

By Webster Dictionary

Amorphophallus

Giant Arum (Amorphophallus titanum)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Alismatales
Family:	Araceae
Genus:	Amorphophallus

Species

See text

Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 170 tropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family (Araceae).

These are typical lowland plants, growing in the tropical and subtropical zones of the paleotropics, from West Africa to the Pacific Islands. None is found in the Americas. Most species are endemic. They grow preferably on disturbed grounds, such as secondary forests.

These small to massive plants have a globose tuber. From top of this tuber, a single leaf issues, which can be up to 1 m long, followed, on maturity, by a single flower. This leaf consists of a vertical leaf stalk and a horizontal blade, which may consist of a number of small leaflets. The leaf lasts one growing season. The peduncle (= primary flower stalk) can be long or short.

As typical in the Arum family, these species develop an inflorescence consisting of an elongate or ovate spathe (a sheating bract) which usually envelops the spadix (a flower spike with a fleshy axis). The spathe can have different colors, but mostly brownish-purple of whitish-green. On the inside, they contain ridges or warts, functioning as insect traps.

The plants are monoecious. The spadix has tiny flowers : female flowers, no more than a pistil, at the bottom, then male flowers, actually a group of stamens, and then a blank sterile area. This last part, called 'the appendix', consists of sterile flowers, called 'staminodes', and can be especially large. There is no corolla.

Once the spathe opens, pollination must happen the same day. The appendix emits a scent of decaying flesh, attracting insects. Yet a number of species gives off a pleasant odor. Through a number of ingenious insect traps, pollinating insects are kept inside the spathe to deposit pollen on the female flowers. These stay open only one day, while the male flowers are still closed. These open then the next day, but by then the female flowers are no longer receptive. The male flowers shower the trapped insects with pollen. Once the insects escape, they can then pollinate another flower.

The pollinated flowers then develop a globose berry as a fruit. These can be red, orange-red, white, white-and-yellow, blue.

The titan arum, the world's biggest inflorescence, belongs to this genus. It can reach a height of 2.5 m and a width of 1.5 m. A runner-up is Amorphophallus gigas, which is taller, but has a somewhat smaller flower. Amorphophallus konjac tubers are used to make konjaku, a Japanese thickening agent containing glucomannan.

Some species are called voodoo lily, as are some species of Sauromatum (also in the Araceae).

The name 'Amorphophallus' us derived from the Greek words 'amorphos' and 'phallos', meaning 'malformed penis'.

Species

Tiatan Arum - close-up

Amorphophallus aberrans
Amorphophallus abyssinicus
- Amorphophallus abyssinicus subsp. abyssinicus
- Amorphophallus abyssinicus subsp. akeassii
- Amorphophallus abyssinicus subsp. unyikae
Amorphophallus albispathus
Amorphophallus albus
Amorphophallus amygdaloides
Amorphophallus angolensis
- Amorphophallus angolensis subsp. angolensis
- Amorphophallus angolensis subsp. maculatus
Amorphophallus angulatus
Amorphophallus angustispathus
Amorphophallus ankarana
Amorphophallus annulifer
Amorphophallus antsingyensis
Amorphophallus aphyllus
Amorphophallus asper
Amorphophallus asterostigmatus
Amorphophallus atrorubens
Amorphophallus atroviridis
Amorphophallus barthlottii
Amorphophallus baumannii
Amorphophallus beccarii
Amorphophallus becquaertii
Amorphophallus bonaccordensis
Amorphophallus borneensis
Amorphophallus boyceanus
Amorphophallus brachyphyllus
Amorphophallus brevispathus
Amorphophallus bufo
Amorphophallus bulbifer
Amorphophallus calabaricus
- Amorphophallus calabaricus subsp. calabaricus
- Amorphophallus calabaricus subsp. mayoi
Amorphophallus canaliculatus
Amorphophallus carneus
Amorphophallus chlorospathus
Amorphophallus cicatricifer
Amorphophallus cirrifer
Amorphophallus coaetaneus
Amorphophallus commutatus
Amorphophallus consimilis
Amorphophallus corrugatus
Amorphophallus costatus
Amorphophallus coudercii
Amorphophallus cruddasianus
Amorphophallus curvistylis
Amorphophallus dactylifer
Amorphophallus declinatus
Amorphophallus decus-silvae : West-Java Giant Amorphophallus
Amorphophallus discophorus
Amorphophallus dracontioides
Amorphophallus dunnii
Amorphophallus dzuii
Amorphophilus eburneus
Amorphophilus echinatus
Amorphophallus eichleri
Amorphophallus elatus
Amorphophallus elegans
Amorphophallus elliottii
Amorphophallus excentricus
Amorphophallus forbesii
Amorphophallus galbra
Amorphophallus gallaensis
Amorphophallus gigas : Sumatra Giant Amorphophallus
Amorphophallus gliruroides
Amorphophallus glossophyllus
Amorphophallus goetzei
Amorphophallus gomboczianus
Amorphophallus gracilior
Amorphophallus gracilis
Amorphophallus haematospadix
Amorphophallus harmandii
Amorphophallus hayi
Amorphophallus henryi : Taiwan Amorphophallus
Amorphophallus hetterscheidii
Amorphophallus hewittii
Amorphophallus hildebrandtii
Amorphophallus hirsutus
Amorphophallus hirtus
Amorphophallus hohenackeri
Amorphophallus hottae
Amorphophallus impressus
Amorphophallus incurvatus
Amorphophallus infundibuliformis
Amorphophallus interruptus
Amorphophallus johnsonii
Amorphophallus kachinensis
Amorphophallus kiusianus
Amorphophallus konjac : Devil's Tongue, Elephant Foot, Elephant-yam, Leopard Palm, Snake Palm, Umbrella Arum
Amorphophallus konkanensis
Amorphophallus koratensis
Amorphophallus krausei
Amorphophallus lambii
Amorphophallus lanuginosus
Amorphophallus laoticus
Amorphophallus lewallei
Amorphophallus linearis
Amorphophallus linguiformis
Amorphophallus longicornus
Amorphophallus longiconnectivus
Amorphophallus longispathaceus
Amorphophallus longistylus
Amorphophallus longituberosus
Amorphophallus luzoniensis
Amorphophallus lyratus
Amorphophallus macrorhizus
Amorphophallus manta
Amorphophallus margaritifer
Amorphophallus margretae
Amorphophallus maximus
- Amorphophallus maximus subsp. fischeri
- Amorphophallus maximus subsp. maximus
Amorphophallus maxwellii
Amorphophallus mekongensis
Amorphophallus merrillii
Amorphophallus mildbraedii
Amorphophallus minor
Amorphophallus mossambicensis
Amorphophallus muelleri
Amorphophallus mullendersii
Amorphophallus mysorensis
Amorphophallus nanus
Amorphophallus napalensis
Amorphophallus napiger
Amorphophallus nicolsonianus
Amorphophallus obovoideus
Amorphophallus obscurus
Amorphophallus ochroleucus
Amorphophallus opertus
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius : Whitespot Giant Arum, Elephant Yam
Amorphophallus palawanensis
Amorphophallus parvulus
Amorphophallus paucisectus
Amorphophallus pendulus : Brunei Amorphophalus
Amorphophallus perakensis
Amorphophallus pilosus
Amorphophallus plicatus
Amorphophallus polyanthus
Amorphophallus prainii
Amorphophallus preussii
Amorphophallus purpurascens
Amorphophallus pusillus
Amorphophallus putii
Amorphophallus pygmaeus
Amorphophallus rhizomatosus
Amorphophallus richardsiae
Amorphophallus rostratus
Amorphophallus rugosus
Amorphophallus sagittarius
Amorphophallus salmoneus
Amorphophallus saraburiensis
Amorphophallus saururus
Amorphophallus scaber
Amorphophallus scutatus
Amorphophallus sizemorae
Amorphophallus sizemorae
Amorphophallus smithsonianus
Amorphophallus sparsiflorus
Amorphophallus spectabilis
Amorphophallus staudtii
Amorphophallus stipitatus
Amorphophallus stuhlmannii
Amorphophallus subsymbiformis
Amorphophallus sumawongii
Amorphophallus sylvaticus
Amorphophallus symonianus
Amorphophallus synandrifer
Amorphophallus taurostigma
Amorphophallus tenuispadix
Amorphophallus tenuistylis
Amorphophallus teuszii
Amorphophallus tinekeae
Amorphophallus titanum : Titan Arum, Krubi (largest flower on earth)
Amorphophallus tonkinensis
Amorphophallus variabilis
Amorphophallus venustus
Amorphophallus verticillatus
Amorphophallus yuloensis
Amorphophallus yunnanensis : Kerri's Giant Arum
Amorphophallus zengianus
Amorphophallus zenkeri
- Amorphophallus zenkeri subsp. mannii
- Amorphophallus zenkeri subsp. zenkeri

Reference

Hetterscheid, W.L.A. 1994. Preliminary taxonomy and morphology of Amorphophallus Blume ex Decaisne (Araceae). In: M.M. Serebreyanyi (ed.), Proc. Moscow Aroid Conference 1992: 35-48. Moscow.
Hetterscheid, W.L.A. & G.J.C.M. v. Vliet, 1996. Amorphophallus, giant from the forest. CITES/C&M, 2(4): 86-96.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Amorphophallus, but Were Afraid to Stick Your Nose Into!!!!! by Wilbert Hetterscheid and Stephen Ittenbach - Aroideana 19 :7-129
Amorphophallus species with photos (http://www.aroid.org/genera/amorphophallus/amlist.html)

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "amorphophallus".

http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/amorphophallus

"Bunga Bangkai" or "Corpse Flowers"

2008-04-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

The Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is native to the equatorial rain forests on the island of Sumatra. There it is known as "Bunga Bangkai," meaning "Corpse Flower." This is due to its stench, which has been discribed as resembling "rotting-fish-with-burnt-sugar." This odor, which is strongest at night, is designed to attract pollinators, which in Sumatra are mainly carrion beetles and flesh flies.

In its natural state, the inflorescence of the Titan Arum can sometimes reach a height of 10 feet. None of the Titan Arums which have bloomed in "captivity" has reached this height. More typical in size is Mr. Stinky, which is shown on the left. Mr Stinky grew an inflorescence which reached a maximum height of 7'1" when it bloomed in May 2003. This is the exact same height as Shaquille O'Neill, who is shown at right.

An Italian botanist "discovered" the Titan Arum in Sumatra in 1878. (The residents of Sumatra had long been aware of it, of course.) He sent seeds to England's Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, where the first bloom of this species in cultivation occurred in 1889.

A Titan Arum bloomed for the first time in the United States at the New York Botanical Gardens in 1937, where it became a sensation. Since then there have been about two dozen blooms in the United States. The photograph at right shows a bloom which occurred at the Huntington Library in Southern California in 1998.

The Titan Arum grows from a large tuber that can weigh over 170 pounds. For most of its life, the plant regularly produces a single, umbrella-like leaf that is itself quite "titanic." In the wild, this leaf can reach 20 feet tall and 15 feet across. In cultivation the leaf usually grows 12 feet high, with the stalk as thick as a person's thigh before branching into a single, compound leaf. An individual leaf lives for about a year. The tuber then enters a short dormant period before producing another leaf or (if you're very, very, lucky) a Bunga Bangkai. The bloom of a Titan Arum is called an inflorescence. Like all Aroids, this inflorescence consists of a spadix surrounded by a spathe. Thousands of flowers are hidden inside at the base of the thick, fleshy spadix. The spathe when open resembles a fluted upturned bell with a maroon interior. Only after the spathe is completely unfurled are the flowers mature and only then does the inflorescence emit its famous odor.

The spathe unfurls about 3 weeks after the bud tip first appears. The huge inflorescence opens abruptly (within hours) and typically stays open for only a few days. Collapse of the spadix takes place after three to five days. If the flowers were successfully pollinated, the surrounding spathe eventually falls off, exposing the maturing seeds. When ripe, the cherry-sized fruits turn a bright orange-red, which attracts birds, which pick the berries off, eat them, and excrete the seed. In this way, the plant is dispersed in nature.

The Titan Arum heats itself up during its bloom. The tip of the spadix will heat to about human body temperature, which can be seen in the thermal image from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, on the left. The rest of the spadix is cooler, though still warmer than the surrounding air.

The reason the Titans do this is that molecules which cause the famous stench are fairly heavy, sulfur based compounds that don't become airborne easily. The plant heats itself up in order to volatilize its "perfume," enabling the smell to travel further, attract more flies and beetles, and increase the chance of pollination.

The plant must expend an enormous amount of energy to do this, which limits the amount of time it can bloom. This explains why Titan Arums typically only bloom for a few days, and why they do not bloom every year.

http://www.platypuspool.com/arumtitan.html

Giant "Corpse Flower" Blooms in Germany

2008-04-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

Reuters

Oct 22, 2005

An exemplar of Giant Arum (Amorhophallus titanum) that opened its blossom at the Wilhelma zoo in Stuttgart, southern Germany. The blossom is three metres tall and said to be the world's biggest of its kind. (Michael Latz/AFP/DDP)

BERLIN - The world's tallest - and smelliest - flower has bloomed, reaching a height of 2.94 metres, 18 centimetres more than the previous record for the species, the Stuttgart botanical garden said on Friday.

The Titan Arum, or Amorphophallus Titanum, nicknamed "corpse flower" because of its putrid stench, blooms rarely and briefly.

Garden staff have nicknamed the purple flower "Diva" and are charting its life on their web site, www.wilhelma.de.

But those keen for a glimpse, or a whiff, in person must be quick: just 24 hours after the 11 year-old plant produced its first flower, the bloom began to wilt on Friday.

The Titan Arum was discovered in 1878 in its sole indigenous habitat, the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and grows in cultivation in only a handful of places around the world.

Its scent has been likened to rotting fish or animal flesh.

"The smell is crucial to its survival in its natural habitat because it attracts pollinating carrion beetles and flesh flies," said botanist Franziska Lo-Kockel.

Lo-Kockel brought the bulb of the plant, weighing some 40 kilograms, from the University of Frankfurt to the Stuttgart gardens 11 years ago.

fORMA DE PENIS DEFORMADO TITANIC

2008-04-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

(vcs lembram dela??)
Uma flor está atraindo muitos visitantes na Alemanha. Trata-se de uma Titan Arum (Amophophallus titanum), que está sendo cultivada em uma estufa na universidade de Bonn.

Milhares de curiosos fizeram fila para dar uma olhada no que a universidade afirma ser a flor mais alta do mundo, com 2,72 metros. A Titan Arum, natural das florestas tropicais de Sumatra (ilha no Oceano Índico), começou a florescer em 14 de março e alcançou seu recorde de altura nesta sexta (23). O evento merece a visita, pois a planta floresce apenas duas ou três vezes durante seus 40 anos de vida, em média.

A Titan também é conhecida pelo seu odor inigualável -uma nada agradável mistura de peixe podre com açúcar queimado, segundo os cientistas. O cheiro, ainda mais forte durante a noite, serve para atrair insetos polinizadores, como besouros e moscas que se alimentam de carniça.

O cheiro é composto basicamente de compostos pesados à base de enxofre, que não se propagam pelo ar facilmente. Para espalhar o "perfume" pelo ar e atrair mais insetos, a planta se aquece, consumindo carboidratos armazenados e provocando uma espécie de curto-circuito em seu sistema respiratório para maximizar a produção de calor. Com isso, a temperatura interna da flor chega a 36°C. O desgaste envolvido nesse processo explica porque a planta floresce por poucos dias e no máximo três vezes durante sua vida.
(fonte uol)

http://fiveheads.blogspot.com/2003_05_01_archive.html

Amorphophallus titanum

2008-04-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Amorphophallus titanum. Το ξύπνημα του γίγαντα

Ένα από πιο τα εντυπωσιακά από κάθε άποψη λουλούδια είναι το Amorphophallus titanum. Ποιος είναι όμως αυτός ο ανθισμένος γίγαντας;

Το επιστημονικό όνομα του φυτού είναι Amorphophallus titanum και σημαίνει άμορφος φαλλός. Το κοινό του όνομα είναι Titan Arum (γιγάντιο άρουμ) αν και η πιο συνηθισμένη του ονομασία είναι "corpse flower" (λουλούδι πτώμα) εξαιτίας της οσμής του. Το φυτό αυτό είναι αυτοφυές στη Σουμάτρα της Ινδονησίας και πρωτοανακαλύφθηκε το 1878 από τον δόκτορα Odoardo Beccari στα τροπικά δάση της περιοχής. Θεωρείται το θεαματικότερο λουλούδι στον κόσμο. Είναι η ψηλότερη μονοστέλεχη ταξιανθία του κόσμου και μπορεί να ξεπεράσει το ύψος ενός ανθρώπου. Για την ακρίβεια ένα ώριμο Titan Arum μπορεί στο φυσικό του περιβάλλον να φτάσει τα 3,5 μέτρα ύψος! Ο βλαστός με το φύλλωμα από ένα ενήλικο φυτό μπορούν να φτάσουν τα 6 μέτρα ύψος και τα 4,5 μέτρα διάμετρο!

Κόνδυλος με βλαστό

Σπάδικας με άνθη

Ένα ώριμο λουλούδι εκπέμπει μια έντονη και πολύ δυσάρεστη οσμή με σκοπό να προσελκύσει έντομα για γονιμοποίηση. Από αυτήν την δυσάρεστη οσμή ονομάστηκε και "λουλούδι-πτώμα". Το λουλούδι κρατάει ανθισμένο μόνο 2-3 μέρες. Εξαιρετικά μικρό διάστημα να αναλογιστεί κανείς ότι χρειάζονται 6-10 χρόνια για να ανθίσει. Η αποπνικτική οσμή του κρατάει μόνο τις πρώτες 8 ώρες τις ανθοφορίας του. Ο κόνδυλος του φυτού μπορεί να φτάσει τα 15 κιλά.

Η σπανιότητα και ιδιαιτερότητα του λουλουδιού δημιούργησε γρήγορα ένα μύθο γύρω από το όνομά του και το έκανε πολύ δημοφιλές μεταξύ των φίλων των λουλουδιών. Η πρώτη απόπειρα να καλλιεργηθεί το Titan Arum σε περιβάλλον διαφορετικό από το φυσικό του έγινε πριν 64 χρόνια στις ΗΠΑ το 1937. Από τότε μεταφέρθηκαν αρκετά φυτά σε διάφορους βοτανικούς κήπους των ΗΠΑ και της Ευρώπης (περίπου 70) καθώς η ανθοφορία ενός τέτοιου φυτού αποτελεί σημαντικό γεγονός και ιδιαίτερη ατραξιόν για κάθε βοτανικό κήπο. Όταν ένα Titan Arum ανθίζει χιλιάδες επισκέπτες σπεύδουν να θαυμάσουν αυτό το μοναδικό γεγονός. Ωστόσο λιγότερα από 15 Titan Arum έχουν ανθίσει μέχρι τώρα στις ΗΠΑ με τελευταίο ανθισμένο δείγμα αυτό στον βοτανικό κήπο Fairchild Tropical Garden της Φλόριντα που άνθισε τον Μάιο του 2001.

Το μεγαλύτερο λουλούδι του κόσμου άνθισε το 2003!

Το Titan Arum που έχει ανθίσει το μεγαλύτερο λουλούδι μέχρι τώρα βρίσκεται στο Βοτανικό Κήπο του Πανεπιστημίου της Βόνης, στη Γερμανία και έχει ύψος 274 εκατοστά. Άνθισε στις 22 Μαΐου του 2003.

Το ίδιο Titan Arum είχε ανθίσει και τον Ιούλιο του 2000 και τότε είχε μετρηθεί με διάμετρο 1.5 μ. και ύψος 2.57μ. ήταν τότε το τρίτο μεγαλύτερο λουλούδι που είχε ανθίσει ποτέ σε καλλιέργεια. Ο κόνδυλός του τότε είχε βάρος 36 κιλά. Τον Ιανουάριο του 2003 ο κόνδυλος μεταφυτεύτηκε γιατί είχε ήδη φτάσει τα 78 κιλά σε ένα τεράστιο δοχείο βάρους 1000 κιλών.

Στις αρχές Μαρτίου εμφανίστηκε το νέο μπουμπούκι και στις αρχές Μαΐου είχε ήδη ύψος 78 εκατοστών. Το τελικό ύψος του έφτασε τα 274 εκατοστά στις 22 Μαΐου 2003. Ένα νέο παγκόσμιο ρεκόρ είχε δημιουργηθεί!

Το προηγούμενο παγκόσμιο ρεκόρ κρατούσε από το 1932! Εκείνη τη χρονιά ένα Titan Arum που άνθησε στον Βοτανικό κήπο του Wageningen της Ολλανδίας είχε φτάσει σε ύψος τα 267 εκατοστά.

http://www.valentine.gr/Amorphophallus-titanum_gr.htm

From e few Source documentation

2008-04-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Leş çiçeği veya ceset çiçeği olarak bilinen titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) dünyanın en kötü kokan çiçeğidir. Ortalama olarak iki metreye kadar bir yüksekliğe erişebilir ve çiçek açtığında yarım mil (yaklaşık 800 metre) uzaktan kokusu hissedilebilen, çürümüş et benzeri aşırı derecede iğrenç bir koku salar. Aynı zamanda, "Şeytan'ın dili" olarak bilinen bu pis kokulu çiçek, Batı Endonezya'da bulunan Sumatra yağmur ormanlarında İtalyan bitki bilimci ve gezgin Dr. Oroardo Beccari tarafından 1878 yılında keşfedilmiştir.

Buda çiçeğimiz ile ilgili bir haber:

Dev ‘ceset çiçeği’ dört yıl sonra açtı

Dünyanın en büyük çiçeği Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) Endonezya’da açtı. Kötü kokusuyla tanınan çiçek

Dünyanın en büyük çiçeği olarak nitelendirilen “Titan Arum”un son örneği Endonezya’daki botanik parkında açtı. Büyüklüğü kadar, kötü kokusuyla da tanınan çiçek buna rağmen ziyaretçilerin büyük ilgisini çekiyor...

Endonezya’nın Bogor botanik parkına son günlerde ziyaretçilerin ilgisi büyük. İlginin nedeni dünyada eşine az rastlanan bir çiçek. “Ceset çiçeği” olarak da bilinen Titan Arum dünyanın en büyük ama aynı zamanda en kötü kokulu çiçeği olarak nitelendiriliyor.

Dört yılda bir açan çiçeğinin beslendiği sinek, arı ve böcekleri kendisine çekmek için bu kötü kokuyu yaydığı belirtiliyor. Ziyaretçilerse bu nadir çiçeği görmek için kokusuna da katlanıyor.

Park yetkilileri ise, artık solduğunu düşünmeye başladıkları sırada açan çiçeğin kendilerini de şaşırttığını belirtiyor.

1878’da İtalyan bir botanist tarafından keşfedilen titan arumların 2 metre 91 santimetre uzunluğundaki en büyük örneği geçen yıl Almanya’da, Stutgart botanik parkında açmıştı. ziyaretçi akınına uğradı...

http://images.google.co.id/imgres?imgurl=http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/54/96lw.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.marzalli.com/forum/forum_posts.asp%3FTID%3D415&h=703&w=528&sz=101&hl=id&start=249&sig2=MEhVY1ckWjVmB95Um9P2Hg&um=1&tbnid=nFs8rs8NTLwiRM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=105&ei=6PryR-WhH5mQ6gP9yJnJCQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtitan%2Barum%26start%3D240%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Did%26sa%3DN

http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2004-10-09/09433861139s.shtml

http://www.twbbs.net.tw/995459.html

http://blog.roodo.com/sharon/archives/2005-10.html

http://forum.outerspace.com.br/showthread.php?t=82101

Ann-S-Thesia with her Titan Arum

2008-04-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

posted by Ann-S-Thesia
www.eyebalm.com
http://eyebalm.com/eyeblog/2001_12_16_archive.shtml

The Titan Arum

2008-04-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

by Dawn Sanders

Introduction: the spectacular plant.

During September 2004, a crowd of visitors descended on the glasshouses of Cambridge University Botanic Garden, to witness the amazing spectacle of the flowering of the giant Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum - pictured right looking like an upside down mushroom), a monumental plant, which originates from the rainforests of Sumatra. In the five days from the first unfurling of the flower over 10,000 visitors came to view this dramatic event. A web cam on the garden’s website allowed
for a wider dissemination of this extraordinary and rarely witnessed occasion. The web cam images attracted over half a million ‘hits’ and the garden received emails from around the world congratulating it on making this botanical event available to a global audience. What lessons does the gathering of these crowds at the flowering of the Titan Arum offer to teachers struggling to make botany a stimulating and exciting topic? And what exactly is a Titan Arum?

The Titan Arum

The massive ‘flower’ of the Titan Arum is in fact an inflorescence of many thousands of tiny flowers embedded in a cream spike called a spadix (Figure 1). Encircling it is a funnel-shaped spathe. This structure reaches its zenith for two days before collapsing. During this time, the accompanying stench of rotting flesh is at its peak, usually overnight for approximately 8 hours. The smell is so bad that the Sumatrans call it the ‘corpse flower’.
This cadaverous smell is emitted to attract carrion beetles or blowflies to pollinate the tiny flowers on the spadix hidden by the spathe.

Plants: the Cinderella organisms of the classroom?
In Britain, Tranter (2004) has recently observed that ‘in too many schools, the wealth of living or once living organisms which pupils are required to study is often reduced to little more than the geranium and the potato’. In addition to this absence of specimens, research has demonstrated that teaching with, and about, plants is considered to be a pedagogical challenge by many biology educators working in today’s classrooms. Key messages from this research are:

the aforementioned reduced repertoire of specimens being used in classrooms and laboratories (see Collins and Price, 1996)
most children and young people prefer to study animals (see Wandersee, 1986 and
Kinchin, 1999).

It has been suggested, however, that: ‘plants are generally easier to handle in a classroom situation than animals since they do not bite, run away, or produce odours’ (Hershey, 1990, p. 68). In the light of Tranter’s (2004) observations and the findings of my recent D.Phil study on botanic gardens as environments for learning (Sanders, 2004), in which the impressions of children from three London primary schools were collected and analysed after several visits to the Chelsea Physic Garden, I would suggest that it is precisely these active, odorous characteristics of plants that excite children. Hence, for example, their identification of carnivorous plants, such as the Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula), as ‘killer plants’ and Ginkgo biloba as ‘the big smelly tree’ (Sanders, 2004). So how might teachers use this research to inform their teaching?

The American biology educators, Wandersee and Schussler (2001) use the term marquee plants, that is plants that draw attention to themselves and capture the imagination, to describe plants to be used in educational contexts. They suggest these are plants that:

attract the public’s attention
during some or all of their life-cycles, are capable of drawing a crowd at a botanic garden
may serve as a doorway to greater public understanding of plants (Wandersee and
Schussler, 2001, p. 3).

They suggest, that by using marquee plants, educators will draw attention to plants that have previously been overlooked by teachers and learners alike. By utilising internet facilities to access webcam documentation of the Titan Arum’s life-cycle or by taking classes to visit the botanic garden itself to witness the spectacle, teachers can engage their learners with a dramatic botanical event that will impact on learners’ imaginations in ways that a geranium or potato cannot. But since this is a rare occasion, how can teachers make botanical education regularly interesting and dynamic?

http://www.leef.org.uk/articles/article.php?id=29

Titan Arum in UNCC Botanical Garden, Charlotte, N.C.

2008-04-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

UNCC Botanical Gardens director Dr. Larry Mellichamp, right, photographs Bella, UNCC's titan arum planr, as a steady stream of visitors file through the McMillan Greenhouse Sunday, July 1, 2007, in Charlotte, N.C., to view a rare bloom.

Photo by Gary O'Brien

http://www.daylife.com/photo/03pu44ZfcKdu7

Titan Arum in Cambridge University Botanic Garden

2008-04-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

The Titan Arum, one of the largest flowers in the world has flowered for the first time ever at Cambridge University Botanic Garden - 3rd September 2004

http://cam.derringer.co.uk/Press/TitanArum/crw_14690.php

Titan Arum in Fullerton California from Central Sumatera

2008-04-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

06-JUN-2006

Titan Arum or "Corpse Flower"

Fullerton California

This is the first time in about three years that the flower has bloomed and produced a striking stench that the public finds oddly attractive.
The corpse flower is native to the rain forests of central Sumatra in Indonesia. It produces a stench, presumably to attract insects that normally feed on dead animals, such as flies and carrion beetles. The insects then carry pollen from one plant to another, pollinating the plant's flowers.

http://www.pbase.com/lcphotography/lynn_pad

Titan Arum in Sydney

2008-04-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dünyanın en büyük ve en kötü kokulu bitkisi olarak bilinen ve nadir çiçek açan titan arum (amorphophallus titanum), Avustralya'nın Sydney kentinde 2. kez açtı.

Kraliyet Botanik Bahçeleri'nde çiçek açan ve ‘ceset çiçeği' olarak adlandırılan, 1,33 metre çapındaki titan arumu görmek için yüzlerce kişinin bahçeye geldiği belirtildi. 40 yıllık ömrü boyunca yalnızca iki ya da üç kez açan titan arumun çiçeği yalnızca birkaç gün canlı kalıyor. Çürük yumurta ve kokmuş et kokan çiçek, özellikle açtıktan sonra hızla boy atmaya başlıyor. Yapılan ölçümlere göre çiçek günde 15 santim kadar uzayabiliyor. Boyu 2 metreyi geçiyor.

http://www.forumel.biz/dunyanin-en-buyuk-cicegi-t10257.html

Date/Time	Height
6-25-07 8am	57"
6-26-07 8am	60"
6-26-07 6pm	62 3/4"
6-27-07 8am	64 1/2"
6-27-07 4pm	65 1/4"
6-28-07 8am	67" (37" Girth)
6-29-07 8am	68 1/2"
6-30-07 8am	69"