The Huntington
Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens


[ INTRODUCTION | THE FACTS | THE GROWTH | THE BLOOM | THE PEOPLE | THE SEEDS ]


Amorphophallus titanum: The People

Flower fans arrived in droves to see the Titan Arum in full bloom. Record numbers of visitors braved long lines and hot summer temperatures for a rare glimpse at this botanical marvel. Staff members lent a hand by directing traffic in the parking lot and distributing parasols and cups of water to the patient crowds waiting in line. Commemorative T-shirts and lots of camera film sold briskly in the gift shop.

Images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

"How bad do you think it will smell?" "I don't mind the long line. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
man at the end of the line
"It's amazing! It's worth coming to see." "It looks like an alien life form."
Kathy Musial, Huntington curator
"Loved the photo coverage and comments on the website. It gave me a chance to sneak off to the garden for a moment while still sitting at my desk in my office."
Internet visitor
"If you go to Sumatra or Borneo to search for this flower, you may never see it, no matter how many trips you take."
Globe-trotting flower expert
"Bravo!!!! The Huntington does it again!" "Never before have so many people waited so eagerly to smell something so foul."
"It's about being part of something. Something positive." "I said to my husband, 'There's a flower in California. We have to go see it.'"
visitor from New Mexico who drove for 16 hours
"Good luck with the next blooming…whenever it comes!"
English visitor via Internet
"I can't believe all these people came here just to see a plant!"
"It smells like a bunch of gross stuff."
7-year-old visitor
"Mille mercis et bravo! Longue vie aux botanistes!"
French flower-watcher, via the Internet





Amorphophallus titanum Pages

[ INTRODUCTION | THE FACTS | THE GROWTH | THE BLOOM | THE PEOPLE | THE SEEDS ]




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