Rockford’s Stinky ‘Corpse Flower’ May Bloom Soon
You wouldn't think that people would get all fired up over a plant that smells like decaying flesh--but, you'd be quite wrong.
It would seem that some smelly fun might be coming to Rockford's Nicholas Conservatory and Gardens in the very near future.
The Titan Arum plant, also known as the "Corpse Flower," typically blooms when the plant's corm (a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat) reaches 30 pounds.
Well, guess what? The Nicholas Conservatory's Titan Arum plant's corm weighs in at 66 pounds!
The plant at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens was donated by the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, CA in 2011. The 66-pound corm was re-potted on April 3, 2018. When it was previously re-potted in July 2016, it weighed 21 pounds. “Titan Arums typically bloom once the corm reaches 30 pounds, so we are hopeful this is the year,” says Horticulture Supervisor Dan Erwin.
Generally, gardens and conservatories will name their Titan Arum once it begins to bloom. Nicholas Conservatory is now taking name submissions for the plant via a drop box at the Conservatory, and on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/NicholasConservatory.
The plant flowers every 7-20 years, and the bloom only lasts 24-48 hours. The corpse flower is also notable for being the Guinness World Record holder for the world’s tallest recorded bloom (10 feet 2.25 inches) and the world’s largest recorded corm (339.29 pounds).
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