Last night at about 8:30 pm:
You can see a live webcast of Audrey at:
Last night at about 8:30 pm:
You can see a live webcast of Audrey at:
Hello Plant Lovers,
Audrey the Titan Arum is continuing to grow 3 inches every day. Trying to predict when the flower will really begin to open is a bit like guessing what day a baby will be born!
Randy Stevenson, a videographer and technician at URI’s Department of Communication and Marketing has been instrumental in helping us get footage of Audrey. Here’s Randy setting up a live webcast in the Conservatory as well as a time-lapse camera which will show the flower opening.
And here’s Audrey this morning standing tall at 48 inches!
And a close up of the beautiful frilled spathe, the circumference of which can reach up to 3 meters/approx 9 feet.
In the last post, I said that A. titanum is endangered. Here’s why: Habitat destruction is occurring through much of Indonesia at an alarming rate and with it ecosystem breakdown – loss of pollinators and seed distributors. The Titan Arum is long-lived, but does not flower often…less than once a year. This doesn’t give it many opportunities to distribute seeds and reproduce before possible destruction of it’s native rainforest.
“The rainforests of Sumatra are under massive threat of deforestation, as vast areas are logged for timber and to make way for oil palm plantations. It is estimated that Indonesia has now lost around 72% of its original rainforest cover, and the scale of deforestation is continuing at an alarming rate. As well as affecting titan arum numbers directly, the loss of habitat is also endangering species such as the rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros), which is an important seed distributor. ” (from the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens website)
Kew goes on to say:
“This species has proved very difficult to cultivate, and there are only a handful of places in the world that do so. Even under optimum conditions the plant takes about six years to flower from seed.”
(Image courtesy of University of California, Davis)
Amorphophallus titanum, otherwise known as the Titan Arum, is a rare and endangered plant from the rainforest island of Sumatra. In 2009, the URI Botanical Gardens obtained a Titan Arum corm (a bulb-like structure) to add to our tropical plant collection. Now, after two years of vegetative growth alternating with months-long dormant periods, “Audrey” is about to flower!
The Titan Arum, also known as “Corpse Flower” for it’s odor of rotting meat, has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. In cultivation it can be 4 to 6, or even 8 feet tall, and more in it’s native habitat. Right now ours is growing about three inches a day. It will keep up this rapid pace until it is ready to open, when growth will slow. The unpleasant smell of the bloom, along with the fleshy red and maroon “meaty” colors, attract the flies and beetles (of the family Sarcophagidae) which pollinate it.
A.titanum was discovered in Sumatra by the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1878. A specimen was shipped to the Royal Botanical Gardens in England, where the plant was displayed and bloomed for the first time in cultivation in 1889. It may take 15 years for the Titan Arum to become large enough to bloom, and it is especially rare to see in cultivation. According to the UC Davis website, where more than one Titan Arum has bloomed, these giants have been coaxed into flower only about 100 times worldwide. Definitely a first in Rhode Island!
Our plant has grown 9 inches in three days! In addition to height and circumference measurements, temperature is an indicator of impending bloom time. The temperature of the spadix rises to almost 98 degrees F to help volatilize the “aroma” and attract pollinators. The growth chart and more information is on display in the Conservatory.
As “Audrey” approaches full bloom, visitors to the Horridge Conservatory will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a remarkable and unusual sight. Our regular visiting hours w (M – F, 8 am to 4 pm ) will be extended for the 24-48 hours that the flower lasts. Check back for updates and more photos as we track this historic event!