Blooming marvelous! World’s ‘largest’ exotic flower blossoms for first time in 10 years
This is the moment one of the largest flowers in the world blossomed for the first time, a decade after arriving at Warsaw’s University Botanical Garden.
As excited crowds flocked to watch the spectacle unfold, with some queuing up for over 2.5 hours, the Botanical Gardens posted: “This is the moment we have all been waiting for. It has begun!”
“The blooming process was noticed after midnight [on Saturday to Sunday], around 1.00, when the edges of the leaves around the central cob began to loosen and hang downwards.”
The amorphophallus titanium, which is also known as the ‘corpse plant’ because of its terrible stink when in bloom, arrived in Poland from its native Indonesian island of Sumatra – and lay dormant until its blooming on Sunday.
By early afternoon, the flower’s central cob had shot up to an impressive 125 cm in height.
By early afternoon, the flower’s central cob had shot up to an impressive 125 cm in height.
The Polish name for the plant dziwidło olbrzymie [strange giant] belies not just its size but also its strangeness.
Piotr Dobrzyński from the tropical greenhouse at the botanical garden told TFN: “It sure is a strange plant. Some people say that it looks like it comes from outer space.
“And it is huge, some of them reach a height of three metres.
“The plant’s infamous stink was only slightly noticeable yesterday afternoon.
“You can smell it a bit at the moment, but it will be really strong probably after midnight.
Crowds flocked to watch the moment the amorphophallus titanium at Warsaw University’s Botanical Gardens went into full bloom, before it dies.
“That central cob heats up and it can reach even 40oC which intensifies the smell. Pollinating insects will come, which are attracted to the smell and the warmth.”
The temperamental plant has had a turbulent time in Warsaw, involving nearly being frozen to death and being revived by a ritual rain dance. It has only now decided to flower.
Though it is not the largest flower in the world, it is the largest inflorescence, a technical term meaning a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch.
The exotic plant found its way to the botanical garden after being donated by a man called Grzegorz who had bought the huge bulb back from its native Sumatra.
A few years ago, a TV crew that was filming in the greenhouse in winter unknowingly put the pot with the plant outside where it stayed overnight in freezing conditions.
The Polish name for the plant dziwidło olbrzymie [strange giant] belies not just its size but also its strangeness.
The damage was so bad that staff at the garden thought that the plant may have died.
“One of my colleagues very carefully removed the damaged parts and then sprinkled it with charcoal, which stopped the rotting process,” Dobrzyński said.
Because of this damage, the plant did not produce a single leaf for another three years. At one point, desperate staff performed a ritual rain dance around the plant in an attempt to revive it.
University gardeners said: “We wondered what could wake her from this hibernation. One day someone suggested the idea of a ‘ritual dance’. Half jokingly, half seriously, we performed the dance.
“We soon forgot about it. We were surprised a few days later... The plant woke up, sprouting a new leaf from the old tuber, which grew in front of our eyes (2 cm a day).”
The temperamental plant has had a turbulent time in Warsaw, involving nearly being frozen to death and being revived by a ritual rain dance.
That happened in 2018. The gardeners had to wait until January this year for the plant to move to the next stage of growth and bloom cycle. That was when the central cob started to push through the outer leaves.
Dobrzyński said: “We are all feeling a great amount of pride. Firstly because it is the blooming of the largest inflorescence in the plant world and it has bloomed here in Warsaw.”
The gates of the botanical garden stayed open until midnight last night with the last guests leaving as late as 3.00 this morning.
Crowds are flocking there today hoping to see the plant before it wilts.
To see the flower live from the greenhouse click HERE.
