Rare and Repulsive-smelling ‘Corpse Flower’ Ready to Bloom
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2004
CONTACT: Joe Wills
530-898-4143
Rare and Repulsive-Smelling ‘Corpse Flower’ Ready to Bloom
For the first time since the Department of Biological Sciences acquired it eight years ago, California State University, Chico’s rare “corpse flower” is ready to demonstrate how it gained its ghoulish name.
Any day now, the titan arum, commonly known as the corpse flower, will open up and bloom, attracting carrion-seeking insects with its notorious odor of rotting flesh. Blooms take place years apart and last only a few days.
Corpse flowers’ infrequent blooming is one of the many features of the Indonesian plant that fascinate botanists and the general public alike. Interest was so high in a blooming corpse flower at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. last year that a hotline was established issuing updates about when the plant might bloom.
While CSU, Chico’s corpse flower is of a slightly smaller type, titans typically reach 6 feet in height, and some in captivity have topped 9 feet. CSU, Chico’s 8-year-old corpse flower came from UC Davis, which has its own titan that bloomed last year.
The bloom and putrid smell that accompanies it typically last two to four days, said Tim Devine, who manages the biological sciences department’s greenhouses. The university is making arrangements for people to view the rare event. Sudden growth in the plant signaled the impending flowering, Devine said.
The inflorescence, as the flower is called, consists of a purplish leafy outer shell surrounding a tall column. Only when the flower is in bloom does it exhibit its ghastly smell. While blooming, the titan produces heat -a rarity among plants-and exudes its smell in waves. Scientists are still attempting to determine the chemical compounds that make up the unusually unappealing odor.
CSU, Chico’s biological sciences department has more than 3,000 living plants in its three greenhouses on campus, and an herbarium of more than 83,000 dried and mounted specimens. Patricia Edelmann, chair of the department, said the plants are studied by university students and are popular with K-12 science teachers and schoolchildren. CSU, Chico is one of the few universities in the state to offer an master’s degree in botany, she said.
###