This one is in Sydney, Australia, and the bottom layer of petals are starting to open up.
We had blooming corpse lilies at our local botanical center a few years ago, in 4-inch pots, and I made the mistake of actively inhaling the scent of one of them. I swore, that smell lingered in my sinus cavity for HOURS afterwards!
At that size those have to be one of Amorphophallus titanium’s smaller cousins, probably A. Konjac (I grow those).
A. titanium used to be unobtanium, found only in a few major greenhouses. But sometime around 20 years back someone had a fertilized flower that produced hundreds of seeds and started selling seedlings for around $100 each. You can buy one (of unspecified size in a 3.5 inch pot) for $85 today.
The only reason I never bought one is because I don’t live in a warm enough climate or have a suitable greenhouse/hothouse. If did and bought one when they were first available I probably would have had at least a couple of blooming years by now.
Amorphophallus species have staggered maturation of the flowers so that on a single plant the female flowers aren’t receptive when the male flowers are producing pollen. But if you have at least two blooms a few days out of synch with each other you can end up with a stalk covered with hundreds of seeds. And they spread rapidly from outgrowths of the roots. So once you have successful growing conditions for an Amorphophallus, you basically become an Amorphophallus factory.
I’ve grown Amorphophallus konjac outdoors for years and never seen a seedling (whether or not there’s bloom in any given spring appears to depend on wintertime lows). Still a great plant to have, and the degree of stench hasn’t been enough to deter Amazon delivery people.
My Phyllanthus angustifolius is currently flowering indoors, with its haunting aroma of bacon Fritos.
Have you had seeds/fruit?
Never seen seeds form (I have two clumps of A. konjac).
Look at the photos in this post:
I just sprinkle the seeds back in the ground surrounding the plants instead of trying to plant any in a new location. So I can’t say for sure if the tiny new plants that come up in the spring are from seeds or from very small outgrowths of the roots, or a mix of both.
What’s with the curtain? It doesn’t seem intended to prevent people on that side of it from seeing the flower, as people on that side of it keep opening it to look and take photos. And it doesn’t seem intended to keep the flower in the dark, as it looks well lit from the other side. Is it just supposed to make it show up a bit better for the camera, instead of the flower showing against the background of a crowd?
Funny, at the moment when I looked at the video just now the curtain was rustling then someone peeked in through it, pointed something at the plant (maybe a phone or light meter) and ducked back out. (And the spadex is already starting to collapse.)
When I first looked at the video, that was happening over and over, every few seconds, with no significant pauses; there appeared to be a line of people behind the curtain each of whom was moving it to look and take a photo, and then another person would take over when they stopped. I was mildly surprised to come back and look at the video after making that post and see that curtain hanging still. – I just looked again and somebody had opened it to poke their head through and take a good long look, with a big smile on their face. – now it’s closed again.
It occurs to me to wonder whether the curtain’s mostly holding heat and/or humidity in or out, but the difference in temperature and humidity between the two sides isn’t great enough that the separation needs to be total?
What zone do you live in, Jackmanni? I’m in USDA zone 7 and my outside one did not make it through last Winter. They only last two or three years when I Winter them inside.
I’ve had them consistently overwinter in zones 6 and 7a, through lows down to -10F. Mulching in late fall is a good idea.
I’m in Zone 8, and mine has grown outside since 2007, always coming back. Started from a single dime-sized crom, has spread to a container full, as you can see in the photos in my thread. Been through a few “polar vortex” events, should go through the current one (a few nights in the teens) too.
From the page I linked selling them, this is what the fruit cluster on Amorphophallus titanium looks like. The one in Australia won’t form one, though, unless they have pollen saved from a different plant. As alluded to earler, the female flowers at the bottom of the spadex die before the male flowers above them start producing pollen. (This is to prevent self-pollination.) Each of those berries contains a single seed taking up most of the volume of the berry. (At least on the A. konjac. Those much larger berries might have a proportionately smaller seed.)
I hate all of you.
dammit.
That’s great, guys. My outside one died at 0F.
Darren, how do you grow something that large? Does it go dormant in Winter? I presume they grow constantly in the tropics. AND, what is your web address?
Thanks!
That bottom photo is from this site I posted earlier, not mine:
You need temps that don’t drop below 50 for those.
The konjac I grow here go dormant in the winter. In the tropics they go dormant in the dry season.
Take a look at this one in the wild:
That guy is hugging a “without form, misshapen” + phallos,"
As of now (11:04PM Central time) it’s really starting to crumple.
Looks like the live stream started on January 15th? So nine days isn’t that bad.
I love the name ‘Putricia’.
What do they smell like, exactly? Not ever having been around a rotting corpse, I have no idea what “smells like death” means. I’ve smelled rotten(ish) meat but I don’t recall it being that bad; maybe it wasn’t rotten enough.