The Titan Arum (Corpse Plant) Is Starting To Open! Watch Cam!

This Titan Arum, Amorphophallus titanum, is preparing to flower in the Kenneth Post Lab Greenhouses at Cornell University. On March 13, the unopened inflorescence measured 57 inches long. In recent days it's been growing about 2 inches daily.

Live Cam

Titan Arum

Growth Stages

The Titan Arum, also known as the Corpse Plant, is one of the largest flowering structures of its kind in the world. It can grow 12 ft tall and its tuber (storage root) can weigh up to 200 lbs.

These plants, native only to Sumatra, bloom very infrequently, and then only for one or two nights before collapsing. It's difficult to predict accurately, but the inflorescence will probably open within days.

Until it opens, there's no noticeable odor. After that there's little doubt where the name "Corpse Flower" comes from.

The Titan Arum, also known as the Corpse Plant, is one of the largest flowering structures of its kind in the world. It can grow 12 ft tall and its tuber (storage root) can weigh up to 200 lbs.
Amorphophallus titanum is native to the rainforests of Suma¬tra, Indonesia, where it is can be found on slopes and hillsides along the edges of the forest. Not only is it uncommon in nature, but it flowers only rarely. In cultivation, it generally takes 7-10 years to bloom, and may die or flower only rarely thereafter. For example, one specimen at Kew Botanic Garden in England flowered in 1889 and did not flower again until 1926!

What looks like an individual flower is actually a group of flow¬ers called an inflorescence. The bell-shaped structure is a modi¬fied leaf (spathe) that is green on the outside, but deep red-purple on the inside. The column-like structure (spadix) is mostly sterile tissue that is used to diffuse the scent throughout the forest to attract pollinators. The actual flowers are very small and located at the base of this column, hidden by the modified leaf. There are about 450 female flowers in a ring at the base, and 500-1,000 male flowers above them.

What’s that smell?

When the flowers are ready for pollination, the spadix emits a nauseating scent meant to attract carrion flies, which are attract¬ed to rotting meat. The female flowers open first, and are only receptive for one day. Then the male flowers open to provide pollen for one day. If pollination is successful, bright red fruits are formed. In the wild, these are eaten by giant Hornbill birds, which help to disperse the seeds.

The inflorescence generates heat in order to help disperse its odor. It’s about the same temperature inside as we are: 96.8°F. At one time, it was rumored that elephants pollinated Titan flowers. The first documented flowering in the United States was at New York Botanical Garden in 1937. It was actually designated as the official flower of the Bronx in 1939, only to be replaced in 2000 by the Daylily. It is believed the plant originated in the late Cretaceous period, and is related to our native Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Skunk Cabbage.

My brother told me of this flower some years back. He had the opportunity to see one in Connecticut back in 2004.

Pretty neat...

That's super cool and all, but will it blend???




Cheers for the link to watch it! Its amazing to think of all these GOOD things technology now allows us to do and see. I think we underestimate how amazing of a chance it is to see something like this live. All hail technology! (well, mother nature made a stinky plant....but Hail technology!)


edit: As I watch this plant revealing itself with this crowd around it, I can't help but think how embarrassing it must be to undress in front of all these people gawking at me! Thank god I'm not a Titan Arum!

Great webcam, great post! Thank you.
Question; since this plant is indoors, and the possibility of carrion flies are small. Are they going to pollenate this themselves?
And if they do and the plant fruits, who will get the fruit to propegate more plants?

ETA love watching the people holding thier noses even tho the flower hasn't opened and stinking yet.

Well hurry up already, I'm already here watching a plant... live, just how much patience can one expect!
Seriously though, I have never heard of this plant so kudos for bringin it onboard. I hope we get a live view of the stink beginning to fill the room, and some of the reactions on the faces of the people.

Peace,
spec

I have always found this stuff pretty cool. More than anything, my brother wanted to know what the thing smelled like. I remember asking him if he was a little sick in the head that day. I personally wouldn't want to smell a rotting corpse. But to each their own...

reply to post by MissPoovey
Male and female flowers are separate, with the female flowers receptive first, the male flowers releasing pollen the next day. solitary cultivated blooms occasionally manage to self-pollinate.

reply to post by Propulsion


I guess if I had to choose which way it was to smell a rotting corpse, I'd go with the flower alternative. I don't want to risk the wrath of the undead.

(awesome avatar btw!)

It's funny watching the live cam. You can't hear anything, but there's a bunch of people standing around taking photos and talking about stuff. You just know whatever they're saying is extremely nerdy, lol.

Originally posted by MissPoovey
Great webcam, great post! Thank you.
Question; since this plant is indoors, and the possibility of carrion flies are small. Are they going to pollenate this themselves?
And if they do and the plant fruits, who will get the fruit to propegate more plants?

ETA love watching the people holding thier noses even tho the flower hasn't opened and stinking yet.

edit on 18-3-2012 by MissPoovey because: (no reason given)

If flowers are successfully pollinated, the surrounding spathe eventually falls off, exposing the maturing seeds. When ripe, the cherry-sized fruits turn a bright orange-red, a color attractive to birds which pick the berries off, digest the flesh and excrete the "pit" or seed. In this way, the plant is dispersed in nature.

It is quite amazing that they can get these things to grow and flower outside of their natural habitat. A rare thing to see for sure. I wish I was there in person, but the web cam is definitely cool.

I find it interesting that they believe it originated from the Cretaceous period. It really does look like something you would see out of Jurassic Park. It's a glimpse of a different world.

Thanks for this.

hahahah this is amazing! watching people's reaction to the smell is hilarious...and kinda stimulate some morbid curiosity out of me

i find it's proper name disturbing. if morph means to change, and "a" as a prefix means "not" then the proper name would mean "unchanging penis".

maybe that's where the smell comes from. honestly, who is on the naming committee these days?!

This is so exciting in a slow motion kind of way!
I have the webcam up and click back and forth, it is opening so wide! I saw people holding their hands up to feel the heat.

cool..

I did a thread last year on this flower..

check it out!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Freakin sweet!

I remember when this plants ( mother) bloomed! ..The plant that is blooming now is from seed of a plant that bloomed pre-2002. This plant that is blooming now was planted in 2002. 10 years to flower..now that's a master gardener. Look at the pot its in, the nutrient regime for this plant must be intensely precise! Look at that greenhouse! ...I should have went to Cornell. :/

I dig plants.

I'm watching a woman collect the pollen right now in front of a class or something and it is awkward for some reason. It it like she is violating the plant, stealing it's eggs or w/e. Anyway, cool to have opened live-cam at this part.
Nobody has fainted or anything from the stench yet

this plant has always facinated me. i would love to see one in person! not sure if i would like the smell of a 'rotting corpse' but it is truly a gem from the past. cool post! i'll keep an eye on this

Watching the web cam, everyone has to smell it, so funny. I wonder if they are curious about what a rotting corpse smells like? What is it about us that we want that information? I would be smelling it too.

It is starting to get tired looking. Hard being a celebrity. I have enjoyed the thread, Thanks OP