Amorphophallus titanum aka Titan Arum 2015. The worlds largest inflorescence of flowers

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Titan Arum 2015

In late 2012 I heard news from the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne regarding the worlds largest inflorescence of flowers the mighty Amorphophallus titanum. I got to see it before it unfurled its beautiful spathe but missed out on seeing it fully opened by one day as I had to leave to go on vacation the day before (poor me). This time however I was in Melbourne for the grand opening. It only stays open and in great shape in terms of both structure and scent (carrion attracting) for a few days so you need to be quick if you want to see and smell it at its best.

The Titan Arum as I saw it in 2012 with the spathe still closed. Click the link below for the blog entry on the 2012 Titan Arum and for general information about the plant itself

http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/visit-to-see-corpse-flower-aka-titan.html

One thing I found surprising upon my arrival at the tropical greenhouse was the amount of people there to see it. There was literally a roped off line up and 15 minute wait to to get in. I'd been getting a bit disheartened regarding gardening and plants in Melbourne. The trend away from spacious gardens and towards larger houses which seem to fill up almost every square metre of land had me thinking people are not interested in plants to level they used to be. It was reassuring to see the enthusiastic curiosity the general population seemed to have for this plant. Maybe there is hope still for urban gardens in Melbourne's future.

Below is the inflorescence in all its glory. It maxed out at 263 in height which breaks the Australian record and is also higher than the ones grown at the famous Kew gardens. For the record, yes the plant did smell quite foul.

The remnants of the line up. At this point they were turning people away as they were about to shut the hot house for the day. When I arrived the line was almost snaking all the way to the end of the roped off area.

Revisiting the Titan Arum (Corpse Flower) in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

Last year just before Christmas I visited the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne in an attempt to see the flower of the Amorphophallus titanum plant (see my blog entry http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/visit-to-see-corpse-flower-aka-titan.html). Unfortunately I was 2 days too early and it hadn't opened yet. I left for holidays a day after I visited the plant and it opened when I was away. I was quite disappointed as I really wanted to experience the 'perfume' of the Titan arum's flower which is supposed to smell like rotting flesh (which is where it gets its other common name 'corpse flower' from). Anyway I revisited the tropical greenhouse at the Botanical Gardens and saw the amazing leaf which is what grows after the flower dies back. Although it looks like an actual tree the plant you see in the picture below is actually one single leaf. I'm pretty sure this is called a compound leaf but it could be called a phyllode which is a modified leaf structure, I'm not quite sure. Apparently the leaf dies back each year and is replaced by a new one which grows from the plants corm. Seeing the huge leaf almost made up for the fact that I missed the plant in bloom. Titan arums are quite rare plants and until recently they had only been propagated in small numbers. The gardens have others that are being grown so hopefully in the future I will be able to experience one in flower.

Front and centre is the massive single leaf structure of the Amorphophallus titanum plant. The individual 'leaves' you see are actually called leaflets. Another 50cms of growth and it will be too tall for the greenhouse.

Thought I would include these two pictures of some orchids that were in the greenhouse also. Everyone loves orchids and there were heaps in flower inside the greenhouse.

Visit to see the Corpse flower aka Titan Arum or Amorphophallus titanum

Went to the Royal Botanic Gardens in the city today to see the plant known as Amorphophallus titanum. It goes by the common names of Corpse flower and Titan Arum. It got the name Corpse flower due to its scent which resembles a rotting carcass and it got the name Titan arum due to the fact that it can reach 6 metres in height.

This plant is native to Sumatra, Indonesia and is now considered vulnerable in the wild. Before 1987 this plant had only 21 flowering events recorded world wide. Since the 1990s this number has increased to 80. These low numbers are due to the scarcity of the plant and also the difficulty involved with nursing it to flowering maturity.

The plant itself can reach either 6 metres high or 3 metres high. This depends on luck, as the tuber it grows from will either produce a giant leaf (6 metres) or an inflorescence (cluster of flowers (3 metres if incredibly lucky)). The plant when mature produces orange / red berries. The rotting meat smell produced from the inflorescence helps with pollination. The smell attracts things such as flies, beetles and insects which pollinate the plants as opposed to pollination by bees.

As you can see from my pictures below the Titan arum that it isn't flowering yet. Once the flowers have bloomed they last only 2-3 days (which is also the only time you can smell its famous odour). According to staff it is due to flower on Christmas day or boxing day. Unfortunately I cannot visit it on either of those days but I plan to see it on Christmas eve so hopefully it will be open then. If not there are 5 other Titan arums being grown at the Botanic Gardens so I may be able to see one of those plants flowering some time in the future. The Ammorphophallus titanum can be found in the tropical greenhouse at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne at the time of writing this blog entry.

Website below;
http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/rbg-melbourne

I would approximate that this Titan arum was about 1.8 metres tall.



Seeing lots of other there to see this rare plant made me feel less tragic for having travelled 50 minutes to see it (well slightly less tragic).

This information plaque was full of, you guessed it, information!