Titan arum
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The Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) or "Corpse plant", in Indonesia "bunga bangkai" (bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver, the same title is also attributed to the famous Rafflesia), has the largest inflorescence in the world (but not the largest single flower; that distinction belongs to Rafflesia). The inflorescence reaches 2 metres tall, taller than a man. Like the related arum and calla, it consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, which looks like the flower's single petal. The "fragrance" of the inflorescence resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and Flesh Flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it.
Both male and female flowers grow in the same inflorescence. The female flowers open first, then a day or two following, the male flowers open. This prevents the flower from self-pollinating.
After the flower dies back, a single leaf, which reaches the size of a small tree, grows from the underground corm. The leaf grows on a green stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets. The leaf structure can reach up to 6 m tall and 5 m across. Each year, the old leaf dies and a new one grows in its place. When the corm has stored enough energy, it becomes dormant for as many as 4 months and the process repeats.
Cultivation
First discovered in Sumatra in 1878, the plant flowers only infrequently in the wild and even more rarely when cultivated. It first flowered in cultivation at the Kew Gardens in London in 1889, with around 60 cultivated blossoms since then. The number of cultivated plants has increased in recent years, and it is not uncommon for there to be five or more flowering events in gardens around the world in a single year.
The tallest bloom in cultivation was achieved in 2003 at the Botanical Gardens (http://www.botgart.uni-bonn.de/amorpho2003e.html) of Bonn, Germany. The event was acknoledged by the Guinness Book of Records (see the certificate (http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/botgart/o_samm/guinness.htm)).
| Date | Location | External link |
|---|---|---|
| May 12, 2003 | Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, (the garden's fifth since 1998) | [1] (http://www.fairchildgarden.org/blooms/amorphophallus2003.html) |
| May 22, 2003 | Botanic Garden, Bonn, Germany | [2] (http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/botgart/amorpho2003e.html) |
| June 9, 2003 | UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, University of California, Davis | [3] (http://greenhouse.ucdavis.edu/titan) |
| June 10, 2003 | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London (Kew's fourth since April 2002) | [4] (http://www.kew.org/plants/titan/index.html) |
| July 2, 2003 | Le Conservatoire Botanique, Brest | [5] (http://www.mairie-brest.fr/brest/arum_titan.htm) (in French) |
| July 23, 2003 | United States Botanic Garden, Washington, DC | [6] (http://www.usbg.gov/your-visit/Titan-Day-1.cfm) |
| August 4, 2004 | University of Wisconsin, Madison (the university's third since 2001) | [7] (http://www.news.wisc.edu/titanarum2004/) |
| August 13, 2004 | UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, University of California, Davis | [8] (http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/titan/) |
| September 2, 2004 | Cambridge University Botanic Garden, University of Cambridge | [9] (http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/amorpho1.html) |
| 7 October, 2004 | Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney, Australia | [10] (http://www.rbgsyd.gov.au/whats_new/titan_arum_photos) |
| 11 April, 2005 | Eden Project, St. Austell, UK | [11] (http://www.edenproject.com/484_6007.htm) |
| 21 April, 2005 | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London (Kew's fifth since April 2002) | [12] (http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/plants/titan/timeline2005.html) |
| May 14, 2005 | Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, (the garden's fifth since 1998) | [13] (http://www.fairchildgarden.org/blooms/amorphophallus04-2005.html) |
| May 30, 2005 | San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers | [14] (http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/whatsnew/index.htm) |
| June 9, 2005 | University of Wisconsin, Madison (the university's fourth since 2001) | [15] (http://www.news.wisc.edu/titanarum2005/) |
External links
- Titan at Huntington Botanical Gardens, California (http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalDiv/Titan2002/Titan2002.html)
- Titan at Hortus Botanicus Leiden (http://www.hortus.leidenuniv.nl/english/index.php3?m=13&c=35)
- Titan Arum at University of Wisconsin, Madison (http://news.wisc.edu/titanarum/)
- 2005 Bloom (http://webstreamer2.doit.wisc.edu/titan_arum/)
- 2005 Bloom Slashdot discussion (http://science.slashdot.org/science/05/06/11/0325216.shtml?tid=133&tid=14)
- 3D Photo of 2004 bloom at Walt Disney World (http://www.callipygian.com/3D/corpseplant.html) (Requires red/cyan 3D Glasses)de:Titanenwurz