Amorphophallus titanum

Titan arum
File:391px-Titan-arum1web.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plant
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Alismatales
Family:	Araceae
Genus:	Amorphophallus
Species:	A. titanum
Binomial name
Amorphophallus titanum (Becc.) Becc. ex Arcang

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 was originally discovered by an Italian botanist, Odoardo Beccari, in Sumatra in 1878. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still only indigenous to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (in 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).

Characteristics

The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 metres (almost 10 ft.) in height. Like the related cuckoo pint and calla lily, it consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, which looks like the flower's single petal. In the case of the Titan Arum, the spathe is green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, and deeply furrowed. The spadix is hollow, pale yellow and resembles a large loaf of French bread. The upper, visible portion of the spadix is covered in pollen, while its lower extremity is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. The "fragrance" of the inflorescence resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and Flesh Flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. However Amorphophallus titanum exudes this foul odor for only 8 to 12 hours while blooming. The flower's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize, this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects.

Titan Arum at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London on 8 June 2005, ten days before it opened. The plant is at the stage where the grooved spathe is being revealed, with just peeping above it the darker green spadix. The spathe will fold open to produce a red bell-shaped structure at the base of the spadix. The plant is about 3 feet (1 metre) high in this picture.

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 semi-green stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets. The leaf structure can reach up to 6 m (20 ft) tall and 5 m (16 ft) 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 about 4 months. Then, the process repeats.

Cultivation

See also: List of publicised titan arum blooms in cultivation

The titan arum only grows in the wild in the equatorial rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was first described in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari. The plant flowers only infrequently in the wild and even more rarely when cultivated. It first flowered in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, at Kew in London, in 1889, with over 100 cultivated blossoms since then. The first documented flowerings in the United States were at New York Botanical Garden in 1937 and 1939. This flowering also inspired the designation of the titan arum as the official flower of the Bronx in 1939, only to be replaced in 2000 by the day lily. 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 titan arum is more commonly available to the advanced gardener due to pollination techniques.

Until 2005, the tallest bloom in cultivation, some 2.74 m (8 ft. 11 in.) high, was achieved at the Botanical Gardens of Bonn, Germany in 2003. The event was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records (see the certificate).

On 20 October 2005, this record was broken at the botanical and zoological garden Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Germany. The bloom reached a height of 2.91 m (9 ft. 6 in.).

File:Titan arum open.JPG

Open flower at United States Botanic Garden, Washington, DC, on 23 November 2005, 4 days after flowering, with the spathe half collapsed.

As of Thusday, May 3rd, 2007, there is a specimen of titan arum in bloom at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. A time-lapse webcam of the growing inflorescence is available here.

As of Saturday, May 5th, 2007, there is a specimen (nicknamed Ted the Titan) about to start flowering at the Botanical Conservatory at Universiy of California, Davis. A streaming lib web cam is available at their web site here.

External links

• Three Webcams of Titan plus time-lapse videos at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota
• Titan at Huntington Botanical Gardens, California
• Titan at Hortus Botanicus Leiden
• Titan Arum at University of Wisconsin, Madison
• 2005 Bloom at U.S. Botanic Garden (Smithsonian Institution's plant)
• 2003 Bloom at U.S. Botanic Garden
• 2005 Bloom
• 2005 Bloom Slashdot discussion
• 3D Photo of 2004 bloom at Walt Disney World (Requires red/cyan 3D Glasses)
• List of bloomings in the US since 1937
• List of bloomings, 1889 to 2005
• How to grow a Titan Arum