Corpse Flower

Post by **LarsMac** » Sat Aug 15, 2015 9:36 pm

One of the big events in Denver this week is the Corpse Flower at the Botanic Gardens is opening.

Home | Denver Botanic Gardens

Who'da thunk half a city would be holding their breath for a Flower to bloom.

Smaug · Post by **Smaug** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 4:45 am

David Attenborough talked about the Corpse Flower on one of his nature progs. They use flies for pollination purposes, hence the rotten meat smell. How often do they flower? We have a smelly plant in the UK too, which also uses flies for pollination.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helleborus_foetidus

Post by **LarsMac** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 6:02 am

The cycle for these is 7 to 10 years, and they are definitely not native to Colorado.

This one has been growing for ten year.

Smaug · Post by **Smaug** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 6:26 am

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Corpse-Flower is a Sumatran plant. Not sure if we have one at Kew Gardens, or the Eden Project.

Post by **LarsMac** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 7:25 am

Correct. They are from Western Sumatra. It is supposed to be quite a beautiful flower, and is apparently the largest unbranched flower structure on the planet.

I have seen pictures, and was thinking of making the trip down to the Botanical Gardens to view this one in person, but the crowd has already gathered, and I think I will be content to check in on the live feed, now and again.

Patsy Warnick · Post by **Patsy Warnick** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:11 am

Is this the flower with a horrible smell when it blooms?

I'll watch the video - interesting & odd flower

I've seen a few odd flowers on the news - not sure if this is the one I'm thinking about?

Thanks for the video

Patsy

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 1:32 pm

LarsMac;1484208 wrote: Correct. They are from Western Sumatra. It is supposed to be quite a beautiful flower, and is apparently the largest unbranched flower structure on the planet.

I have seen pictures, and was thinking of making the trip down to the Botanical Gardens to view this one in person, but the crowd has already gathered, and I think I will be content to check in on the live feed, now and again.

Looking at the 'live' pictures it looks reasonably do-able with regard to you visiting. At least people don't seem to be standing in huge crowds (at the moment). Go on LarsMac, you seem to really want to make the trip - there may not be such a chance for another 10 years !! :-6 Then you can report back on what it was like to see the plant for real !

Post by **LarsMac** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 6:17 pm

G#Gill;1484238 wrote: Looking at the 'live' pictures it looks reasonably do-able with regard to you visiting. At least people don't seem to be standing in huge crowds (at the moment). Go on LarsMac, you seem to really want to make the trip - there may not be such a chance for another 10 years !! :-6 Then you can report back on what it was like to see the plant for real !

We'll see once it actually opens up. I've looked in on it a few times today. You can see that some changes have taken place, but it will be tomorrow, or perhaps Tuesday before it fully opens up.

Post by **LarsMac** » Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:27 pm

There ya go. It is starting to open now.

Post by **LarsMac** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 6:25 am

Just when it was getting interesting, they lost the feed.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:43 am

Typical, LarsMac ! Mind you, I bet it was a deliberate ploy - to get lots of people through the doors and pay to see it ! (ain't I cynical ?) :wah:

Post by **LarsMac** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:58 am

The feed is back.

Smaug · Post by **Smaug** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 1:11 pm

It won't be long now! Wonder if it smells bad yet?

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:03 am

Yurg ! It looks vaguely rude ! But then I suppose that is just in the eye of the beholder! What a strange flower ! Why does it smell so foul ? I suppose it is to keep 'predators' away ?

Smaug · Post by **Smaug** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 7:52 am

G#Gill;1484485 wrote: Yurg ! It looks vaguely rude ! But then I suppose that is just in the eye of the beholder! What a strange flower ! Why does it smell so foul ? I suppose it is to keep 'predators' away ?

No, it's to attract flies, as this plant uses them, rather than bees for pollination purposes.

Post by **LarsMac** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:12 am

G#Gill;1484485 wrote: Yurg ! It looks vaguely rude ! But then I suppose that is just in the eye of the beholder! What a strange flower ! Why does it smell so foul ? I suppose it is to keep 'predators' away ?

Well, you're not the first to make that observation.

The scientific name for it is "Amorphophallus titanum"

I'll leave it to you to sort out the translation.

Smaug · Post by **Smaug** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 9:43 am

LarsMac;1484506 wrote: Well, you're not the first to make that observation.

The scientific name for it is "Amorphophallus titanum"

I'll leave it to you to sort out the translation.

"Amorphophallus titanum"

Says it all, really!:yh_rotfl