From: Steve Marak samarak at gizmoworks.com> on 2005.06.25 at 22:26:38(13054)
Aroiders,
By happy coincidence, we were in Oklahoma City this morning on another errand
and stopped by to see the titanum in bud at the Crystal Bridge Conservatory at
Myriad Botanic Gardens.
Allan Storjohann wasn't in (it being Saturday), but we got a good look and
talked to one of the docents who seemed to have an interest in it. He mentioned
that this plant was a donation from Clark Riley, by the way ...
The bud is about 1 m (3 ft) from soil to spadix tip. They're still predicting a
week or so before full open; I'd have said sooner looking at the size of the
tub and the bud, but he said they're measuring the height of the spadix every
day and seem confident. They do plan to pollinate, and already have pollen on
hand.
Incidentally, re the question on names ... when we went in, I asked "Is the
Amorphophallus titanum in a public area?" and the person running the desk said
"The what? Oh, is that the stinky plant?". The security guard knew both "Titan
arum" and "corpse flower", but only the docent knew the scientific name and I
never heard him use it when talking to anyone but us. There were a number of
people who had apparently come in just to view the titanum.
This close, we'll definitely go over again when it opens.
Steve
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