Again, Amorphophallus Titanum blooming at rejang Land, Sumatra Island, Indonesia

For many time, again and again in this years the corpse flowers blooming at rejang land. Not too far away from capital city of rejang -lebong regency, Curup town find by mr. Ahyan Sori at his farm, located at Air Lanang Village, South Curup district, in Rejang land, Sumatra Island at June 28th, 2009.

How beauty look the biggest flowers in the world can you see at photo below.

Corpse flowers first time finding by botanist Odoardo beccari in rejang land, at Kepahiang regency exactly recently. In native language this flower call as Bungei Kibut, and Bunga bangkai in bahasa. Scientist give name as Amorphophallus Titanum Beccari, or Titan Arum.

Photo below taken by my author Curup Kami after a few day full bloom. Even not as biggest as with the one bloom at january a few months ago, this can be able evidence thats the Titan Arum still able bloom in all season, wet and dry season can be find. But in dry season the flowers more smaller than blooming at wet season, in average.

Description of Amorphophallus titanum at Air Lanang Village

Find at june 2009 (dry season). This is a small size of Amorphophallus titanum because the height just 180 cm and 88 cm for the wide. The spadix 175 cm from the bottom and and has a depth of approximately 115 cm only.

Amorphophallus titanum

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "penis", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with 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). It thrives at the edges of rainforests near open grasslands. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still indigenous only to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, 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). The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 metres (10 ft) in circumference. 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 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. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize; this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects. 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. 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 metres (20 ft) tall and 5 metres (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. The corm is the largest known, weighing around 50 kilograms (110 lb). When a specimen at the Princess of Wales Conservatory, Kew Gardens, was repotted after its dormant period, the weight was recorded as 91 kilograms (200 lb). Image Locatin : Air Lanang Village South Curup District, Rejang Lebong Regency Image by: Curup Kami and Ahyan Sori, June 2009

References :

• Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_arum
• Http://curupkami.blogspot.com