Reader Howie sent me a live feed of a corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum, also called “the titan arum”) blooming at Appalachian State, where he teaches. This is a rare event—the flower opened today in the University greenhouse. The bloom won’t last long: usually about two days, though it could go a few days beyond that. But it’s best to see it when it first blooms. As Howie noted: “Female flowers mature first, when the smell peaks, followed the next day by the male flowers, with no scent.” You certainly want to smell how stinky it is, for the smell is part of the way it gets pollinated.
Note that viewing hours are from 6 a.m. to noon, Eastern time, but the feed might continue after that. First, a photo of the flower, and then a live video:
Here’s Howie’s notes:
These plants, native to Sumatra, engage a special type of respiration, known as thermogenesis, cyanide-resistant respiration, which raises the temperature of the spadix 10-25C above ambient. This volatilizes amines which smell like rotting meat and which attract flies as pollinators.These plants shuttle electrons in their mitochondria to an alternative oxidase, generating a lot of heat, but no ATP. That pathway is not inhibited by cyanide as is the regular oxidative phosphorylation pathway.A paper from 2009 by some German researchers suggests the heating also creates convective air currents that further disperse the amines in the otherwise calm air of a tropical forest understory.It’s a tradition to name your corpse flower, so ours is named Mongo, a twist on our greenhouse manager’s (Jerry Meyer) nickname of Mungo.I’m going to try and see if I can get false color infra-red photos later today. [JAC: I’ll add them to the post if we get them.]
Howie added that they’re having the longest lines ever in the App. State greenhouse:
From Wikipedia:
The titan arum’s inflorescence can reach over 3 m (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 a large petal. In the case of the titan arum, the spathe is a deep green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, with a deeply furrowed texture. The spadix is almost hollow and resembles a large baguette. Near the bottom of the spadix, hidden from view inside the sheath of the spathe, the spadix bears two rings of small flowers. The upper ring bears the male flowers, the lower ring is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. The odor (“fragrance”) of the titan arum resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. The inflorescence’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 roughly human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize; this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects.
About the blooming:
In cultivation, the titan arum generally requires 5 through 10 years of vegetative growth before blooming for the first time. After a plant’s initial blooming, there can be considerable variation in its blooming frequency. The cultivation conditions are known in detail. Some plants may not bloom again for another 7 through 10 years while others may bloom every two or three years. At the botanical gardens Bonn, it was observed under optimal cultivation conditions that the plants flowered alternatively every second year. A plant has also been flowering every second year (2012 to 2022) in the Copenhagen Botanical Garden. Back-to-back blooms occurring within a year have been documented and corms simultaneously sending up both a leaf (or two) and an inflorescence. There has also been an occasion when a 117 kilograms (258 lb) corm produced three simultaneous blooms in Bonn, Germany. There was also a triplet bloom at the Chicago Botanic Gardens in May 2020 named “The Velvet Queen,” but viewing was closed to the public due to COVID-19.
The spathe generally begins to open between midafternoon and late evening and remains open all night. At this time, the female flowers are receptive to pollination. Although most spathes begin to wilt within 12 hours, some have been known to remain open for 24 to 48 hours. As the spathe wilts, the female flowers lose receptivity to pollination.
And you can read about how stinky it is, too:
As the spathe gradually opens, the spadix heats up to 37 °C (99 °F), and rhythmically releases powerful odors to attract pollinators, insects which feed on dead animals or lay their eggs in rotting meat.[16] The potency of the odor gradually increases from late evening until the middle of the night, when carrion beetles and flesh flies are active as pollinators, then tapers off towards morning.[27] Analyses of chemicals released by the spadix show the stench includes dimethyl trisulfide (like limburger cheese), dimethyl disulfide (garlic), trimethylamine (rotting fish), isovaleric acid (sweaty socks), benzyl alcohol (sweet floral scent), phenol (like Chloraseptic), and indole (like feces).
A National Geographic video, concentrating on the smell:
Here’s a video of one that grew for 11 years before flowering: opening once in a 24-hour period. Talk about the patience of nature!
ADDENDUM: Reader Bob drove up to see the plant from Asheville and sent a photo and this note:
One of your commenters said he would like to see a close-up of the window they’ve cut out to make the flower parts visible. I’ve attached mine; you’re free to use it if you’d like.
Two additional photos of the flower by Nina Tovish:
Great write up – amazing!
Let us know if the false-color pics come out – seems we can’t subscribe yet.
We saw one once at the University of Washington greenhouse. Amazing! I had no idea that the plant does such biochemical handstands to generate heat.
I know that people call it the “corpse flower,” but its binomial appears to translate as “formless giant d*ck” (And I don’t mean “duck.”)
I think the binomial nailed it!
I see the place is busy. I’d like a close-up of the cutaway.
Sumatra has some of the coolest species: Sumatran tigers and rhinos, Bornean elephants, orangutans…corpse flowers. Another amazing example of evolution’s handiwork on islands. Perhaps PCC(E)’s frequent peregrinations will find him there one day. 🙂
I got a cutaway from the reader; I’ll add it to the post
Related to cuckoo pint? There’s another link between them as well as genetics. “Pint” is a contraction of “pintle,” meaning penis. And if you want to get really naughty, imagine some
cuckoo spit on a cuckoo pint!
Thank you for posting this! I would not have heard about it otherwise. I live in Asheville, so today (Sunday) I drove the almost 2 hours to go see it. Unfortunately, it had peaked yesterday. Today it has already started to wilt, and it had no smell at all. But it was still pretty cool to see in person.