This week, a corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) bloomed at Plant Delights nursery in Raleigh. Conveniently, blooming coincided with the nursery’s summer open-house.
Just a few years ago, the blooming of a corpse flower at a botanical garden would have been recorded by CNN or the national newspapers. Artificial propagation has made the species reasonably widespread in cultivation, but blooming is still an exciting horticultural event. I had never before been privileged to see an A. titanum inflorescence. It was impressively large, and although the stench was not as strong and pervasive as I expected, it definitely smelled like old road-kill. The smaller Amorphophallus konjac in my garden have a hint of sewer in their fragrance, but this was pure carrion.
After paying our respects to ‘Peter Grande,” we did a little shopping. The rain was coming down in sheets, so we cut short our browsing and came away with only a Penstemon murrayanus and a Hemerocallis altissima. The baby A. titanum seedlings were tempting, but I managed to resist. Maybe next time.
For more details on ‘Peter Grande’, see Plant Delights’ Titan Page.
YUCK! I do happen to remember those things being in the news when they bloomed. I suppose that if anyone is to grow them, it would be Plant Delights. They are weird.
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I would be fascinated to see one.
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Hi: Is the ‘artificial propagation’ by ‘chipping’, saving offsets, tissue culture, or is it simply the deliberate collection, distribution, and growth of seeds resulting from the blooming of earlier, more-heralded, A titanum?
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I’m not entirely certain. My impression is that the initial increase in cultivated plants was due to seed production, but plants can also be propagated by leaf cuttings and tissue culture. The latter two techniques may be the source of plants on sale at retail nurseries.
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Amazing flower. I saw one at UNCC once.
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