Titan arum
| Titan arum | |
|---|---|
| In bloom at New York Botanical Garden June 27, 2018 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Alismatales |
| Family: | Araceae |
| Genus: | Amorphophallus |
| Species: | A. titanum |
| Binomial name | |
| Amorphophallus titanum (Becc.) Becc. ex Arcang | |
| Synonyms | |
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The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has a large unbranched inflorescence; a tall single leaf, branched like a tree; and a heavy tuber which enables the plant to produce the inflorescence. A. titanum is endemic to rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Its flower blooms infrequently and only for a short period, and gives off a powerful scent of rotting flesh which attracts pollinators. As a consequence, it is characterized as a carrion flower, earning it the names corpse flower or corpse plant.
The titan arum was first brought to flower in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1889. Since then it has flowered at many botanic gardens. It remains difficult for amateurs to cultivate, but one flowered at a high school in California in 2011. Flowerings can attract crowds of thousands of visitors, and in the 21st century also thousands on Internet live streaming.