Titan Arum

The Huntington
Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Interesting facts about:

Amorphophallus titanum,

the Titan Arum or Bunga Bangkai
("Corpse flower")

Discovered in Sumatra by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1878.
Found only in the equatorial tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Seeds sent by Dr. Beccari to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (via Italy) were grown and the first blooming of this species in cultivation occurred at Kew in 1889.
The first recorded bloom in the U.S. was at the New York Botanical Garden in 1937, where it caused quite a sensation.
So rarely blooms in cultivation that this will be only the 11^th recorded bloom in the U.S., and the first ever in California. Has only rarely been displayed outdoors.
Grows from a large tuber which can reach 170 pounds or more. The Huntington's tuber was 18 inches in diameter and 40 pounds when received in March from Mark Dimmitt of Arizona.
Said to be the largest "flower" (in sheer bulk) in the world, it is technically an "inflorescence", or a cluster of flowers. The spadix can reach over 6 feet tall (the tallest ever recorded was over 10 feet), and when fully open the spathe can reach about 3 feet across. The largest true flower in the world is the Titan Arum's compatriot Rafflesia arnoldii, found in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. (Our goal is to be the first in the world to grow and bloom one of those outside it's natural habitat, but that's another story.)
Thousands of true flowers are hidden inside at the base of the spadix (the fleshy central column). The large frilly-edged leafy structure enclosing the spadix is called the spathe. The completely unfurled spathe resembles an upturned fluted bell with a maroon interior. Only then are the flowers mature. Male and female flowers are separate, with the female flowers receptive first, the male flowers releasing pollen the next day; this ensures cross-pollination. A plant cannot produce seed unless pollen is provided from another plant. The spathe will unfurl about 3 weeks after the bud tip first appears; at its current growth rate (4 inches per day), we predict this will be just about the end of July. The flower typically stays open for two days.
When the flower is fully open, it emits a repulsive scent (hence its Indonesian common name). The odor, strongest at night, is to attract pollinators, which in its Sumatran home are thought to be carrion beetles and sweat bees.
A single huge umbrella-like leaf appears alternately with the flower and is itself quite "titanic". In cultivation it can reach over 12 feet high, its stalk in the wild can reach 20 feet tall and 15 feet across. The single stalk grows several feet tall and as thick as a person's thigh before branching into a compound leaf. An individual leaf may live for about a year before dying. The tuber then enters a short dormant period before producing another leaf or flower.

Curtis' Botanical Magazine Images

These images are from Curtis' Botanical Magazine, the longest-running illustrated botanical and horticultural periodical. The first issue of this stunning series of plant portraits was published in February 1787 and it is still published today. Its sumptuous illustrations were hand-colored until 1948, an exceptional history.

Complete sets are quite scarce and the Huntington is fortunate to have not just one, but two sets of this magnificent publication, now numbering 200 volumes.

Amorphophallus titanum was figured in volume 117, January 1891, two years after it bloomed for the first time in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. The illustrations show the opened inflorescence, the leaf details, the inflorescence still in the bud stage, the small clusters of flowers, and the ovary, seeds, and stamens.

Amorphophallus titanum Image Pages,
[ The Growth | The Bloom | The Happening | The Long Sleep ]

Links to outside resources on the Amorphophallus titanum:
Virtual Reality Tour - provided by Onuma
Infrared Images (previously taken) from JPL
Fairchild Tropical Garden
The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
The Atlanta Botanical Garden
University of Bonn Botanical Garden
Amorphophallus page on the International Aroid Society page
International Aroid Society
BBC Online Network News
Photographs
A site with photos and links to other sites.

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© 1999, Huntington Library. All rights reserved.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
626-405-2100
Comments to: webmaster

© 1999, Huntington Library. All rights reserved. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, CA 91108 626-405-2100 Comments to: webmaster

© 1999, Huntington Library. All rights reserved.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
626-405-2100
Comments to: webmaster