Titan Arum

I fell in love with working with tropical plants at my college greenhouse. We had some unique and charismatic specimens that were impossible not to fall under the spell of. Perhaps the most so was Perry the Corpse Flower. Perry was started from seed in 1993 by a professor at GAC and was finally big enough to bloom in 2007. Big enough, of course means that its underground corm was 90 pounds in 2006 when it was repotted. The Corpse Flower, also known as Titan Arum or Amorphophallus titanum has a number of fascinating features that make it and other members of the Amorphophallus genus unique. These plants send up a single leaf from their underground tuber (think potato), but this leaf can reach ridiculous heights in the case of the Titan Arum. When I first met Perry at GAC, I thought he was a tree. It wasn't until closer inspection that I realized the several meter high "trunk" was actually only one highly branched leaf. 

http://arboretum.blog.gustavus.edu/2008/06/19/gigantic-leaf-garners-gawkers/brian-leaf-may-7-2008/

Perry's first flower caused quite a stir as it was the first of its kind to bloom in Minnesota. The flower (technically an inflorescence) of an arum consists of two parts, the leaf-like spathe that wraps around the, um, phallic shaped spadix. The flowers themselves are arranged on the spadix and are hidden and protected by the crimson colored spathe.

Dorky picture of me, but you get the idea; big stinky plant!

 These flowers are pollinated by flies and bugs that are attracted to the plant by its noxious smell. When it blooms, it emits odors that mimic that of dead, rotting flesh. Yummy huh? Titan arums are pretty talented mimics; not only do they produce that amazing stench and look like meat, they also heat up during the peak of their bloom to spread the fumes further. Plants that have endothermy? That's cool! (or hot...)

Me, being the nerd I am, felt the need to make my own mini Titan Arum. It was a fun exercise in blending colors, and sculpting the shapes I needed. I "planted" it in a tiny pot, and now can enjoy my very own corpse flower -without the nasty smell.