Mrs. J. and I returned from a trip yesterday and were delighted to see our corpse-flower, a.k.a. devil’s tongue a.k.a. voodoo lily in full flower.
It’s the second time in the roughly six years I’ve grown this plant (botanical name = Amorphophallus konjac, one of the coolest names in the plant kingdom) that it’s flowered for us. The flowering spike is a little over three feet tall, with the lurid dark purple spadix (the elongated part) arising from the spotted purple spathe. A minor disappointment is that the bloom is not as stinky as advertised, at least to my nose (it’s typically said to smell like rotting meat or fish). Still, it must have significant odor to pollinators, as I saw a fly on it yesterday. After the flowering season is over the plant then sends up a 3-4 foot stalk (also generously spotted) with compound leaves that last all season. A. konjac is hardy here and has survived temps to -10F or so. More info here.
The better-known corpse flower is Amorphophallus titanum, which is a giant tropical version that draws crowds whenever it blooms. Here’s one that recently flowered at Ohio State. They named it Woody (for Woody Hayes?), a great honor I’m sure. A. titanum’s flowers are legendary stinkers.
I should mention that A. konjac is used in Asian cooking, and that it contains substances (glucomannans) that in limited research have been found to impede absorption of dietary fats.
We could be looking at a revolutionary weight-loss aid here. :dubious:
The Plant Delights nursery in North Carolina carries a great selection of Amorphophallus, including a Mozambique species which reportedly has “a purple dust-ruffled toilet seat-like spathe and purple spadix with a smell to match”. Too bad these other varieties are insufficiently cold-hardy to survive in my zone.
You did better than me. I was given on last year. It had weird foliage. Fall came and I couldn’t find the bulb as the leaves were all gone. It froze to death.
A. konjac survival is probably helped by the fact that it’s growing up against a south-facing wall. I’ve never bothered to mulch it. It typically emerges sometime in mid-May.
The foliage starts dying back in September or early October.
Fascinating!! That’s what konyaku comes from - the resistant, jelly like stuff that appears in a lot of Japanese cooking. It’s tasteless in itself but does add nice texture to meals and is said to “clean the blood” by my MIL. I have never seen the plant and had a mental image of something more potato like, so thanks for showing us what a COOL plant that is!
I’ll try some of the bulblets outside. Dranculus vulgaris comes back smaller every year, and has not made an appearance this year. It does smell like rotten meat. Really, really, badly.
P.S.
I still hate you.
We have had dozens of these bloom at work and always put them on display when they do. It seems like the smell is really awful when they get bumped or moved in any way…give yours a little shake and the stink will gross you out. On the other hand, my favorite treat is when the plant leafs out after blooming. The trunk and foliage are absolutely beautiful and one of the coolest plants I have ever seen–I think it looks like giraffe skin. We just purchased the A. titanum, and I can’t wait for it to bloom, but I am told it takes several years to mature. Sigh.
We have had several varieties of Amorphophallus growing in our gardens for the past few years, and we had two that would consistently bloom: one smelled like dog turds, and the other smelled like propane. Acid Lamp can tell you all about which ones we had, as I have forgotten. We now have a rogue Amorphophallus growing in the lawn, as we had accidentally misplaced a corm upon moving to the place where we now live.
I had some in Sacramento that came up every year and bloomed. When I moved I dug a couple up and brought them with me, in pots. They grow & bloom in pots, too if you can’t leave them in the ground where you live.
Just make sure a well-meaning but stupid friend of relative doesn’t throw it out when it’s dormant, thinking there was nothing in the pot.
