Corpse Flower Why in news?
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Why in news?
- The owner of a rare corpse flower hauled the plant to an abandoned gas station in the San Francisco Bay Area, hundreds of curious neighbors lined up to meet the really big and really stinky plant.
- Amorphophallus titanum, also called corpse flowers, can grow up to 10 feet tall and stink like rotting flesh, though the smell is clearly not enough to keep crowds away
About the species
- The ultra-rare Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) is a flowering plant, which is native to the rainforests of Sumatra in Indonesia.
- It is known to be one of the world’s largest ‘unbranched inflorescence’ or a stalk bearing a cluster of flowers. Components – In about a decade, the ‘corpse flower’ can grow to be up to 10 feet tall. Its crucial components are,
- A deep red skirt-like petal ‘spathe’ and
- A yellow rod-like ‘spadix’
- The ‘corm’, a fleshy underground plant stem which is a storage organ where the corpse plant’s energy is stored.
- The plant is said to have the biggest corm.
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- Blooming – In its average lifespan of 3-4 decades, the plant blooms once every seven to ten years and only for a brief period of time.
- Small male and female flowers grow towards the base of the spadix. If pollinated, they grow into a large head of burnt orange colored seeds.