largest flower in the world
The Titan Arum, or "corpse flower," is the world's largest flower, with blooms that can have a diameter of well over a metre. It is also very rare. The fully open flower emits a repulsive, 'rotting-fish' scent. This odour is to attract pollinators which, where it lives, are mainly carrion beetles and flesh flies. The Titan Arum's natural home is the equatorial rainforest of central Sumatra, in Indonesia. The plant is in the same family as the common houseplants Dieffenbachia and Philodendrons, but is incredibly larger ... The Titan Arum grows from a large tuber that can weigh over 80 kg (170 pounds); the flowering stalk can reach 3 metres in height, and open to a diameter of over a metre. Thousands of true flowers are hidden inside at the base (the fleshy central column). The large, frilly-edged, leafy "skirt" enclosing column is the spathe, which when open resembles an upturned, fluted bell. This giant flowering structure is called an inflorescence. |  Amorphophallus titanum |
The giant 'corpse flower' blooms only occasionally in captivity, and its blooming, which only lasts a day or two, is usually a sensation. It happens within about six hours, as the spathe unfurls. Inside this bell-shaped 'flower' are actually many smaller true flowers, both male and female. The female flowers inside the spathe mature first, followed a day later by the male flowers. Following successful pollination, after about a week the spathe withers and falls off, and bright red cherry-sized berries containing seeds are exposed, hopefully to be eaten by birds, which excrete the seeds that will grow into new plants elsewhere.
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