RE: Malodorous plants
- To: c*@fix.net, m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: RE: Malodorous plants
- From: "* B* <s*@hotmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 08:18:42 PST
> I cannot understand why a person plant something they know is
>going to stink when it blooms.
'Cause nature ain't always pretty but nearly always fascinating. :)
> I seem to remember reading about another Arum, supposedly that
>looks like a gigantic skunk cabbage more than ten feet high at bloom.
And
>it has a commensurate stench I'm told.
Amorphophallus spp. Yes, they grow a host of them at the U.W.
greenhouse. Most are much smaller than A. titanum, which they grow as
well but haven't bloomed yet. The corms at this point are a almost
three feet wide and must weigh nearly (maybe more than?) a hundred
pounds. The petiole is about ten inches wide at the base and a single
leaf is divided into hundreds of leaflets; it looks like a tree.
Evidently A. titanum smells like rotting fish though I've heard other
descriptions. The foulest in the collectin is one from Africa whose
name I can't remember; it smells like an old baby diaper times ten.
They should be popping off fairly soon; there are usually several in
bloom in time for the NW Flower and Garden show. It also usually
coincides with the blooming of Daphne odora, a beautifully scented
flower, and one woman who works at the greenhouse keeps a sprig of it
with her and walks around with it on her nose during the Amorphophallus
blooming. Prolonged exposure can give you a headache actually.
bob
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