(by 10 people)
Your rating:
Well, when a flower is nicknamed "corpse flower", you rather get the hint that it's not going to be like smelling roses and fresh cookies to be next to it. The smell doesn't last long, but while it's there - watch out!
Runtime: 2:28
34858 views
10 Comments:
1 point
0 points
Runtime: 0:46
3786 views
4 Comments:
The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "penis", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The largest single flower is borne by the Rafflesia arnoldii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant kingdom belongs to the Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera). The titan arum was originally discovered by an Italian botanist, Odoardo Beccari, in Sumatra in 1878. It thrives at the edges of rainforests near open grasslands. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still indigenous only to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal,"History and Botany of the Titan Arum" from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (in Indonesian, "bunga bangkai" - bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra).
The popular name titan arum was invented by the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants, in which the flowering and pollination of the plant were filmed for the first time. Attenborough felt that constantly referring to the plant as Amorphophallus on a popular TV documentary would be inappropriate.
Did you like this lens? Have you ever seen a Titan Arum in person?
Share your stories, or your opinions, or just leave a note to say hello?
Thanks for visiting!
Irenemaria wrote...
Oh I wish you could put fragrance into the lens :) One day for sure I will smell this flower!!! Congratulations to your reward - well deserved too.
enslavedbyfaeries wrote...
Congratulations! Your lens was a winner on the Squids Choice Awards lens where it will be featured for the next two months! (p.s. I tried to send you a message with the "contact me" button, but I kept getting a captcha error so I will try again tomorrow.) 5*
CherylK wrote...
We have one of these in the Botanical Garden in Minneapolis!! I do NOT want to smell it. But I can certainly appreciate the "beauty" of it! Great lens.
mulberry wrote...
I've never seen one, nor have I smelled one. Is it wrong if I say I don't think I want to encounter one? ;)
Copyright © 2008, Squidoo, LLC and respective copyright owners
Please read the Squidoo Terms of Service