iTitan arum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plant Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Alismatales Family: Araceae Genus: Amorphophallus Species: A. titanum
Binomial name
Amorphophallus titanum (Becc.) Becc. ex Arcang

The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) has 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). Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal^[1], the titan arum is also known as 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). Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (494x758, 136 KB) From en. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta - rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta - zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta - trimerophytes Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta... It has been suggested that Angiospermae, and Anthophyta be merged into this article or section. ... Liliopsida is the botanical name for a class. ... Families Alismataceae Aponogetonaceae Araceae Butomaceae Cymodoceaceae Hydrocharitaceae Juncaginaceae Limnocharitaceae Posidoniaceae Potamogetonaceae Ruppiaceae Scheuchzeriaceae Tofieldiaceae Zosteraceae The order Alismatales contains the alismatids, a group of monocotyledons (class Liliopsida). ... Genera See text. ... Species See text. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Odoardo Beccari (16 November 1843 – 25 October 1920) was an Italian naturalist perhaps best known for discovering the titan arum, the plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, in Sumatra in 1878. ... An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers on a branch of a plant. ... Binomial name Rafflesia arnoldii R.Br. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta - rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta - zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta - trimerophytes Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta... Binomial name Corypha umbraculifera L. The Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera) is one of the largest species of palm tree in the world. ... Odor receptors on the antennae of a Luna moth An odor is the object of perception of the sense of olfaction. ... Rotting fruit Decomposition (or spoilage) is a phenomenon common in the sciences of biology and chemistry. ... Orders Multituberculata (extinct) Volaticotheria (extinct) Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Australosphenida Ausktribosphenida Monotremata Subclass Eutheria (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Anagaloidea (extinct) Arctostylopida (extinct) Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Cingulata Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Leptictida (extinct) Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia... Species See text. ... A rainforest is a forested biome with high annual rainfall. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ...

Characteristics

The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 metres (almost 10 ft.) in height. Like the related cuckoo pint and calla lily, it consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, which looks like the flower's single petal. In the case of the Titan Arum, the spathe is green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, and deeply furrowed. The spadix is hollow, pale yellow and resembles a large loaf of French bread. The upper, visible portion of the spadix is covered in pollen, while its lower extremity is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. The "fragrance" of the inflorescence resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and Flesh Flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. The flower's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. The metre, or meter (U.S.), is a measure of length. ... Binomial name Arum maculatum L. Arum maculatum is a member the Araceae. ... Calla lily is also one common name for the related genus Calla A calla lily is any of the plants of the genus Zantedeschia in the family Araceae. ... Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ... Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ... French-Bread (known as Watanabe Seisakujo prior to 2003) is a dojin soft company that specializes in 2D fighting games. ... Amaryllis style and stigmas A carpel is the female reproductive organ of a flower; the basic unit of the gynoecium. ... Flesh redirects here. ... Titan arum For other uses, see Carrion (disambiguation). ... Suborders Adephaga Archostemata Myxophaga Polyphaga See subgroups of the order Coleoptera Wikispecies has information related to: Coleoptera Beetles are the most diverse group of insects. ... Subfamilies Miltogramminae Sarcophaginae Fleshflies, family Sarcophagidae, are insects that are often mistaken for common houseflies, although they are somewhat larger in size. ... A flower-fly pollinating a Common Daisy (Bellis perennis) Pollination is an important step in the reproduction of seed plants: the transfer of pollen grains (male gametes) to the plant carpel, the structure that contains the ovule (female gamete). ...

Titan Arum at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London on 8 June 2005, ten days before it opened. The plant is at the stage where the grooved spathe is being revealed, with just peeping above it the darker green spadix. The spathe will fold open to produce a red bell-shaped structure at the base of the spadix. The plant is about 3 feet (1 metre) high in this picture.

Both male and female flowers grow in the same inflorescence. The female flowers open first, then a day or two following, the male flowers open. This prevents the flower from self-pollinating. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2288x1712, 619 KB) Titan Arum at Kew Gardens, London, England. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2288x1712, 619 KB) Titan Arum at Kew Gardens, London, England. ... Royal Botanic Gardens redirects here. ... Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ... Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ... A foot (plural: feet; symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... The metre, or meter (U.S.), is a measure of length. ... An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers on a branch of a plant. ... Self-pollination is the activity that arises when a flower has both stamen and pistils. ...

After the flower dies back, a single leaf, which reaches the size of a small tree, grows from the underground corm. The leaf grows on a semi-green stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets. The leaf structure can reach up to 6 m (20 ft) tall and 5 m (16 ft) across. Each year, the old leaf dies and a new one grows in its place. When the corm has stored enough energy, it becomes dormant for about 4 months. Then, the process repeats. A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (estivation). ...

Cultivation

See also: List of publicised titan arum blooms in cultivation

The titan arum only grows in the wild in the equatorial rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was first described in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari. The plant flowers only infrequently in the wild and even more rarely when cultivated. It first flowered in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, at Kew in London, in 1889, with over 100 cultivated blossoms since then. The first documented flowerings in the U.S. were at New York Botanical Garden in 1937 and 1939. This flowering also inspired the designation of the titan arum as the official flower of the Bronx in 1939, only to be replaced in 2000 by the day lily. The number of cultivated plants has increased in recent years, and it is not uncommon for there to be five or more flowering events in gardens around the world in a single year. The titan arum is more commonly available to the advanced gardener due to pollination techniques and ebay. This list of publicised titan arum blooms in cultivation is a comprehensive listing of all known flowering events of the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) in cultivation. ... World map showing the equator in red The Equator is an imaginary circle drawn around a planet (or other astronomical object) at a distance halfway between the poles. ... Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750 mm and 2000 mm. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Odoardo Beccari (16 November 1843 – 25 October 1920) was an Italian naturalist perhaps best known for discovering the titan arum, the plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, in Sumatra in 1878. ... Royal Botanic Gardens redirects here. ... Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... One of the premiere botanical gardens in the United States, the New York Botanical Garden [located at East 200th Street & Kazimiroff Boulevard] spans some 240 acres (1 km²) in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City. ... The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of United States. ... Species , etc The daylily is any of about 15 species of flowering plants in the genus Hemerocallis. ... eBay headquarters in San Jose eBay North First Street satellite office campus (home to PayPal) eBay Inc. ...

Until 2005, the tallest bloom in cultivation, some 2.74 m (8 ft. 11 in.) high, was achieved at the Botanical Gardens of Bonn, Germany in 2003. The event was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records (see the certificate). Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany, located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ...

On 20 October 2005, this record was broken at the botanical and zoological garden Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Germany. The bloom reached a height of 2.91 m (9 ft. 6 in.). October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wilhelma in 1900 The Zoo Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Germany is Europes only large combined zoological and botanical garden. ... Stuttgart [], located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 (as of September 2005) in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area. ...

Open flower at United States Botanic Garden, Washington, DC, on 23 November 2005, 4 days after flowering, with the spathe half collapsed.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (481x640, 228 KB) Summary Image by Imma_Thai@MORGUEFILE.COM Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (481x640, 228 KB) Summary Image by Imma_Thai@MORGUEFILE.COM Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a botanic garden run by the Congress of the United States. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ...

References in popular culture

• Appearance in the TV series CSI:Crime Scene Investigation episode Pirates of the Third Reich.
• Appearance in the animated TV series The Simpsons, episode Moe Baby Blues.
• Appearance in the movie Dennis the Menace (US).
• Mentioned in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the fake radio station WCTR.
• Appears as an enemy character in the PlayStation video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Simpsons redirects here. ... Moe Baby Blues is the finale of the fourteenth season of The Simpsons. ... Dennis the Menace is a daily comic strip (single panel on weekdays, full strip on Sundays) originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham, which made its début in 1,000 newspapers in 48 countries and 19 languages. ... Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the fifth video game in the Grand Theft Auto series. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SOTN) is a Japanese action-adventure game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation video game console. ...

References

1. ^ "History and Botany of the Titan Arum" from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The Cranford Rose Garden in Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York City The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden located next to Prospect Park near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Founded in 1910, the 52 acre (210,000 m²) garden includes a cherry tree esplanade, a...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amorphophallus titanum

• Titan at Huntington Botanical Gardens, California
• Titan at Hortus Botanicus Leiden
• Titan Arum at University of Wisconsin, Madison
• 2005 Bloom
• 2005 Bloom Slashdot discussion
• 3D Photo of 2004 bloom at Walt Disney World (Requires red/cyan 3D Glasses)
• List of bloomings in the US since 1937
• List of bloomings, 1889 to 2005
• How to grow a Titan Arum

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters (often abbreviated as /.) is a technology-related news website which features user-submitted and editor-evaluated current affairs news with a nerdy slant. ...