From: SelbyHort at aol.com on 1999.05.21 at 15:44:26(3381)
Selby Amorphophallus titanum update:
On Thursday, May 20, at about 3 PM, the first of our Amorphophallus titanum
flowering buds began to open. The bud sat unchanged all day and no one had
noticed any discernible changes until about 4PM, when one of the staff passed
through the viewing area on her way home. She noticed that the spathe had
begun to spread away from the spadix and was rapidly expanding. All of us
scrambled for cameras, press were notified and a photographer, who had been
selected for the assignment was called in. It was an exciting evening as
several of the staff witnessed the unfurling! And the nauseating stench
emitted was everything we might have imagined! The stench began almost
imperceptibly, then as the evening wore on, the waves of foul odor began
pulsing at what seemed like regular intervals...at times the wall of putrid
stench would seem as through it was slamming into each of us with a tangible
force. It seemed to have a great deal of power. The security guard arriving
for the 10 PM shift announced he had smelled the odor from the parking lot,
even before he got out of his truck. At one point as I was facing the almost
fully expanded inflorescence, a magnificent burst of fetid breath seemed to
hit my eyes...it felt as though something had actually touched the surface of
my eye, and my eyes immediately smarted strongly bringing tears! The effect
was so totally incredible, it must be experienced to believe. I do hope all
of you with A. titanum waiting to flower will have the opportunity to sit in
front of this stupendous plant and witness the whole event!
We have another flower that should open within 2-3 days and today we will
collect pollen from the open inflorescence and save it to pollinate the
second. I will post another messsage as time permits.
Donna Atwood
Selby Gardens
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