Rare Titan Arum Finally Blooms

Amorphophallus titanum is a giant among plants, sometimes rising more than three meters off the ground. It also smells like rotting meat, dung and rancid cheese, which a visitor to Duke Gardens might detect up to 20 feet away. 

"It's definitely very strong," said Mike Lyle, staff assistant for Chapel Music who recently visited the rare giant on his lunch break. "[The plant's] amazing. I've heard about these for a long time and I didn't expect one to be here."

Lyle studied the titan as if he were observing art in a museum.

Also known as the titan arum, the plant is sometimes referred to as the "Corpse Flower." It stinks to attract flies, which pollinate it. After the plant fully sprouts, it quickly goes downhill and rests for four to six months. It blooms every four to six years.

The blooming giant is on display at the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden, but when it isn't flowering it lives in the biology department's greenhouses.

Jenny Gordon, a teaching-collection horticulturist at Duke, waited four years for it to bloom, and on June 17 it finally did. "We were thrilled," she said. "We got stalks each year but never a flower."

Gordon said she measured the plant one day and by the next, it had grown four inches.

The plant became part of Duke's greenhouse collection in 2002. Gordon has been the caretaker of the titan since she arrived on campus in 2009. She calls it "her baby" and finds it extra special because it is an unusual plant that rarely flowers.

When Gordon noticed a ruffle of a flower in the plant, she knew it would soon bloom and felt like it should be on display. She immediately got in touch with Duke Gardens.

"They were happy to have it because they knew how much of a special plant it was," Gordon said. "They are definitely capable of caring for it and many people can see it as much as possible." 

Jason Holmes, curator of Doris Duke Center Gardens, accepted the plant with open arms and brought it to the gardens on June 20. "There's definitely been a lot of visitors since we first sent it out by email," Holmes said. On June 25, a small daycare group visited and the kids took turns smelling the plant, and making funny faces for a camera.

"I was here at 8 o'clock that night," Holmes said. "There were sporadic visitors even then showing up at dusk to see it."

 UPDATE 6/28/2013 -- After a week in the heat, the Titan shriveled and drooped on Friday June 28. It was returned to the greenhouses to recoup its strength for the next bloom ... in maybe 2019?