Titan Arum blossoms

Responding to a change of scenery and a little hormone therapy, UW–Madison’s Titan Arum plant blossomed today (Aug. 5). The bloom is expected to last about 24 hours before it begins to fade. Accompanying the bloom is the signature stench of the plant, which, in nature, is designed to attract the carrion beetles and flesh-eating flies that pollinate it.

Known to scientists as Amorphophallus titanum, the plant was moved from the lobby of Birge Hall to the Botany Greenhouse where it was exposed last night to ethylene, a hormone in the form of a gas that is given off by ripening fruit and that can be used to speed plant development and ripening.

The plant, which blossoms only occasionally in captivity, is the third to bloom at UW–Madison in three years. It can be viewed by the public at the Botany Greenhouse in Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive. The greenhouse will be open to the public until 10 p.m. today and from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday. There is no admission charge.

More information about the plant and its status can be obtained at the UW’s Titan Arum web site.