Titan Arum - The Corpse Flower

 Amorphophallus titanium

Fruit and Seedling of

Amorphophallus titanum

 

The titan arum is a giant among plants, with a massive flowering structure that rises some three metres above the ground. Its flowering is rare and unpredictable.

When the flowers are ready for pollination, the spadix heats up and emits a nauseating smell. This stench is so bad that the Indonesians call the plant ‘the corpse flower’.The inflorescence rises from a tuber, a swollen underground stem modified to store food for the plant. This tuber, more or less spherical in shape and weighing 70 kg or more, is the largest such structure known in the plant kingdom.

Species information

• Common name(s): titan arum
• Conservation status: Classified as Vulnerable (V) on the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.
• Habitat: The titan arum dwells in the rainforests of western Sumatra, on steep hillsides that are 120 to 365 metres above sea level.
• Known hazards: Emits a nauseating smell on flowering.

Taxonomy

• Class: Equisetopsida
• Subclass: Magnoliidae
• Superorder: Lilianae
• Order: Alismatales
• Family: Araceae
• Genus: Amorphophallus

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