A Corpse Flower in Adelaide

[Pip]

Today I was notified that the Amorphophallus titanum the was donated to the South Australian Botanic Gardens in 2006 was flowering for the first time. It is  been grown in a green house located in the Mt Lofty Botanic Garden, in an area usually off limits but today the garden let the public in.

I was not expecting much of a crowd so I was surprised by the number of people interested in the stinky bloom. I couldn't linger and stare with amazement, only had enough time to take a photo and move on.

It has produced a pup.

[Monòver]

Wow!

[Pip]

The crowd of people was amazing. Adelaidians just aren't accustomed to long lines and waiting for anything. It was about 31c and garden staff and volunteers were handing out bottles of water.

Eventually I could see the Corpse flower through the glass house wall.

Then up as close as I could get.

[Monòver]

I saw the same in "The Simpsons".

The same flower and every Springfield people waitting to see it and smell.

[Pip]

Unfortunately I visited in the middle of the day so I missed out on any of the stench. I was feeling like I was living that very episode of the Simpsons, fortunately the plant didn't suddenly erupt with toxic gas killing all the surrounding plants and causing a stampede as the people try to escape the stench.

[Pip]

It must be the season for Amorphophallus titanum to flower as the Cairns Botanic Gardensis expecting one of their specimens to open very soon.

[PalmatierMeg]

So neat. I have a number of Amorphophallus species but not that one. None have flowered but put up "umbrella" leaves in spring/summer. When they die back in the fall I unpot the tubers, hose them off, dry them, treat them with bone meal and powder fungicide, then repot in dry potting mix. They spend the winter stashed in my garden shed. But this year I learned the hard way that damp tubers & soil contain something caustic that burned my skin. In the future I'll wear protective gloves and toss out used mix.

[Pip]

Oh no, that doesn't sound very pleasant Meg. 

I have a carion lily or black arum lily (not Amorphophallus anything) in my garden it only grows during the cool season it begins to die back to the ground with the first 30c day. 

[Pip]

It's happening again! A second Amorphophallus titanum has flowered in Adelaide. This one is located in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Bicentennial Conservatory and is just over 2m tall a little bit taller than the one at the Mt Lofty Botanic Garden. Unfortunately I'm busy completing a professional practice placement for my Bachelor degree so I can't make it the gardens this time. Below are a few pics taken from the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Facebook page.

 

[Pip]

Another picture from the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Facebook page. This is how the Amorphophallus titanum looked at the special late gate closing time.

[Pip]

Another pic from the Botanic Gardens Facebook page. The mornig of the last day, the flower is expected to collapse this evening.

[Pip]

And just a couple more. Who knows when the next Amorphophallus titanum will flower in Adelaide again.

[alex4294]

Such a majestic bloom! Gonna show these pics to my young plants to give them some motivation! If you can obtain a specimen it's well worth it, although not sure how easy it is to find plants in Aus. They're surprisingly pretty easy going as houseplants!

[Pip]

  On 2/2/2016 at 9:35 PM, alex4294 said:

Such a majestic bloom! Gonna show these pics to my young plants to give them some motivation! If you can obtain a specimen it's well worth it, although not sure how easy it is to find plants in Aus. They're surprisingly pretty easy going as houseplants!

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I'll leave the cultivation of this plant up to the professional horticulturists. Due to the threatened status of the Amorphophallus titanum in its natural habitat trading any part of the plant is highly controlled. The Botanic Gardens of South Australia obtained the seeds via a donation in 2006 so it has taken 9 years to grow to maturity. The mature corms should flower every third year now. I think the plan is that the gardens will grow enough plants to have aleast 1 bloom every summer.

The much smaller cousins can sometimes be seen in old cottage gardens here.

 

[Tropicgardener]

Great photos Pip  ................ There are a number of Amorphophallus titanum in cultivation in private collections here in Queensland. Occasionally it does become available on Feebay for a premium price.

[Pip]

That is very interesting Andrew Queensland also has a better climate for them to. If I could afford to buy Amorphophallus titanum I'd invest in something different their blooms just don't last long enough.............oh and stink like a dead possum. Eww!

[alex4294]

  On 2/2/2016 at 11:31 PM, Pip said:

I'll leave the cultivation of this plant up to the professional horticulturists. Due to the threatened status of the Amorphophallus titanum in its natural habitat trading any part of the plant is highly controlled. The Botanic Gardens of South Australia obtained the seeds via a donation in 2006 so it has taken 9 years to grow to maturity. The mature corms should flower every third year now. I think the plan is that the gardens will grow enough plants to have aleast 1 bloom every summer.

The much smaller cousins can sometimes be seen in old cottage gardens here.

 

 

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Ahh fair enough. If you're extremely lucky botanic gardens will sometimes offer small plants in their plant sales, from seeds produced by their own plants or sometimes vegetative propagation. This is how I received mine.

Edited February 3, 2016 by alex4294

[DoomsDave]

Oh yeah.

When they smell, they SMELL.

They have small cousins, which my garden is now full of. They make a pretty, cut-umbrella-type leaf on what looks like a marbled post, which dies for part of the year. A large enough bulb will bloom as the one pictured is doing.

My amor-phallies are popping up all over, including in palm pots!

[Pip]

This pic was taken one week after blooming