Titan arum - The worlds largest bloom

Time lapse of a unique event:
in May 2006, three inflorescences emerge from a tuber of the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) in Bonn Botanical Gardens, Germany.

In 2003, the very same plant produced the world's largest bloom - officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Take a good sniff and enjoy the video! :-)
Visit
http://www.botgart.uni-bonn.de/o_samm/eng_vers/amor2006_en.html
for more information on Amorphophallus (in English ).

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Amorphophallus
• flower
• Bonn
• timelapse
• record

[smurfboywv]

It looks like the flower opened at night and closed the next morning, usually it flowers for 3-4 days, what happened?

[botanisch]

@smurfboywv

several things, actually. 1st, Bloom is normally at two subsequent nights; 3-4 days might be exaggerated, acc. to my exp. 2nd, AFAIR we had a drop in greenhouse temperature during this bloom, which might have triggered closing. 3rd, we observed second (not total) opening in the following night, as should to be normal. (Sadly, no footage of this, we were busy around the thing doing measurements of temp etc.).

[smurfboywv77]

@botanisch Are there 3 bulbs in the pot or 1? I had an amorphophallus konjac bloom in January and I can attest that they smell foul, like hamburger thats spoiled in a container for several days. I love the flower but the odor lingers for days.

[botanisch]

@smurfboywv77

This one was exeptional, one tuber produced three inflorescences. When going dormant, it had divided in three tubers. This has never been seen before in this species, but is known for other Amorphos.

[smurfboywv77]

@botanisch That is odd. I have a small tuber about 2 inches across, I got it from ebay, because the seller did not pack the plant well when I got it the leaves were dead. With the leaf dying prematurely will a new one grow back?

[botanisch]

@smurfboywv77 WTF? Who would send a tuber w the leaf (singular, mind...)? Normally, you send them dormant. Your plant must be confused now. Depending on your location, you might now want to store it in a cool, dry place until cultivation period. BWT: hope you're not talking about A. titanum. This species is quite a diva, as you might know.

[smurfboywv77]

@botanisch The 2nd bulb the other seller sold went for 379$ and is a 3 inch bulb, I found a 4 pound bulb for $106 thats 5-8 inches across and 6 inches high.

[smurfboywv77]

@botanisch Platteborze123 was the seller, he has sold several and one was overseas, and yes it had a leaf on it maybe 8 inches tall that eventually died. I read they do not like cold temps so i'm not sure why he sold them in the winter. There's another guy who listed 2 on ebay and he's out of washington I believe. I didn't think the small bulb would live so I ordered another larger bulb from tindras orchids.

[botanisch]

@TaticalVensaur

Thanks for the comment. Hope you enjoy

I know "rotting flesh" been used widely, but "offical" sounds a little... well... official.

Let me claryfy: the oudour contains dimethyl oligosulphides, one main component is trimethylamin. You may google this to get further ideas what it smells like...

Having experienced blooming events several times and knowing where to look for trimethylamines elsewhere in nature, I find "rotting fish" far more accurate.

[TaticalVensaur]

@botanisch rotting flesh is the offical term