Miami University’s Titan Arum, or corpse flower
Visit in person daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Belk Greenhouse attached to Boyd Hall
Parking available at Kumler Chapel on Miami Western Drive off of Patterson Avenue
Live web cam online: http://www.cas.miamioh.edu/botany/titan/
Ohio’s fourth-ever blooming Titan Arum — a species of plant known fondly as “corpse flower” — is beginning to bloom at Miami University.
The corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum, is named for its distinct odor that is similar to a decomposing mammal, said Jack Keegan, instructor of botany and manager of the Belk Greenhouse attached to Boyd Hall in Oxford.
Keegan said less than 200 worldwide have ever bloomed while in cultivation. The plant only grows in the wild in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia.
“It really does stink; it’s not a pleasant smell,” Keegan said.
The plant takes more than a decade to mature from seed and can weigh up to 100 pounds, Keegan said.
Miami’s corpse flower — donated this spring by botany alumna Joan McElfresh Leonard (’86), program manager at the Ohio State University Biological Sciences Greenhouse — clocks in at 12 years of age and 25 pounds, according to Keegan. It will reach about 5 feet tall in full bloom.
“It won’t start smelling until it blooms; in the last two days it grew four inches,” Keegan said, adding the flower could be in full bloom by Wednesday or Friday.
Keegan said the flower has been nicknamed “Botany Big Ben Harrison” after Miami’s most successful alumni Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd U.S. president.
Those interested in tracking the flower’s bloom can watch a live web cam online at: http://www.cas.miamioh.edu/botany/titan/.
The Belk Greenhouse will be open to the public daily this week from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Parking is available at Kumler Chapel on Miami Western Drive off of Patterson Avenue.
“I encourage people to come, it’s a rare opportunity to see something like this,” Keegan said.
When the flower does bloom, Keegan said the greenhouse will stay open until midnight. Keegan said the greenhouse also houses several other plants of the same species ranging in maturity from seedlings to seven years old.
Ohio’s three past blooming Titan Arum — the world’s largest unbranched inflorescence — were recorded once in Cleveland and twice at Ohio State University in Columbus.
Keegan said he hasn’t decided the fate of the corpse flower once it blooms. It can either be pollinated with pollen that has been stored and frozen, or will be available for two days if not pollinated for people to view and smell.
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