Saturday, April 23, 2011

A Rare Bird in Bloom


 Its been awhile since I've been to our zoo which really is more of a botanical garden with a zoo as a complement. It is quite spectacular.










And this time it is really exciting since we have a rare occurance happening with a bloom of the exotic Amorphophallus titanium. This unusual plant originating from Sumatra is also known as the corpse plant and I'm sure you can assume, the noxious smells that would emanate from the blooming flower to attract its pollenator to come and visit



The edges of the giant flower are starting to color a deep purple, giving us hints that the flower is ready to open its bloom soon.

Fortunately at this point, the flower has not yet opened and there are no offensive smells. Its very unpredictable to know when this will occur since blooms have been registered sporadically and in many other environments that does not mimic each other. So although this state of budding has been in this stage for over a week, it is anyones guess when this will occur.




 


The plant shown is over seven foot in height from the top to bottom, making this quite a large specimen. Hopefully, I will be able to photograph the plant, but since the blooms only happen within a twenty four hour timeframe, the timing is always crucial. But in any case, this show and exotic plant is still amazing at this stage and I'm in awe of its presence.

Here's some more information on the Amorphophallus titanium http://www.gardening-advisor.com/corpse-flower.html


This is my scenic sunday post, to view other scenic sundays go to http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

To see other beautiful flowers in bloom go visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

11 comments:

Chandramouli S said...

That's fabulous. It really looks like a titan!!!
A zoo serving as a place of botanical interest? That's a treat!

lotusleaf said...

What a gigantic flower! Beautiful photos.

africanaussie said...

oh yes I saw one in bloom in our botanical gardens. I have never smelt a corpse, but it was pretty strong smelling... Lets say I will leave it in the botanical garden and not be tempted to grow one at home :)

Andrea said...

I am familiar with its cousin, Amorphophallus campanulatus, which we have here. The flower is almost the same in morphology but the shape of the top part is shorter and oval. That covering which could be the sepals look the same. They grow in marginal lands of forest margins and people cut the flower before opening to avoid the rotting animal smell when they open. I wonder if that practice lessens its population here.

Lona said...

Wow Noel! What a monster of a flower. I never saw one so big. I just heard on the news this morning where are local Ohio State University had a Corpse Flower and I had never heard of it. I am glad I got to see one from your pictures. If it smells bad that is going to be one big stick when it opens. LOL! It is so interesting looking. The Little Shop of Horrors comes to mind with such a big flower. LOL!

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

There were a couple of those blooming here in the Bay Area last spring. One in Berkeley, and the other in San Francisco if memory serves. I have yet to see (or smell) one in person though. It's certainly an impressive bloom!

Laura said...

That is one very unusual flower! I'm imagining Morticia Adams would have wanted this in her greenhouse!

Megan said...

Dang, that's amazing! I'm still sad I never got over to Berkeley when their big guy was flowering. Great pics!

Alistair said...

You wouldn't want to miss this event if at all possible. The corpse flower did bloom here at the eden project back in 2007.

Anonymous said...

Aloha Noel! This is one amazing flower. I've never seen it before!

Thanks for stopping by my blog:-))

Kimberly said...

Hi, Noel! I've never seen one in bloom. Amazing! I hear it smells horrible, but the sight is worth it. Awesome!

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