Sunshine and titan arum relatives at the Garden

Sunshine is the latest corpse flower at the Chicago Botanic Garden to bloom. A member of the Aroid plant family (Araceae) from Sumatra, it has a number of titan arum relatives at the Garden from around the world. Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) and Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) are the two most common Chicago natives in this … Continue reading Sunshine and titan arum relatives at the Garden

Titan Arum Seedlings Shared Throughout the U.S.

In the past year, more than 181 million people learned about Spike, Alice the Amorphophallus, and Sprout—the Chicago Botanic Garden’s titan arums (Amorphophallus titanum) that entered a bloom cycle—through various media sources. Now even more people may have the chance to learn about the unique corpse flower from seedlings sowed at the Garden that have been shared … Continue reading Titan Arum Seedlings Shared Throughout the U.S.

Sharing the Titan Arum Love

Spring is traditionally the season that gardener friends and neighbors share plants. So when we noticed in late May that one of the 13 corpse flowers in the production greenhouse at the Chicago Botanic Garden was showing signs of sending up an inflorescence, we knew it was time to share. Wanting to spread the titan bounty and to … Continue reading Sharing the Titan Arum Love

Alice the Amorphophallus—An Update on Titan Arum Fruit

Thousands of visitors to the Orchid Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden have been delighted to see a special guest star at the Tropical Greenhouse: Alice the Amorphophallus is on display, in full and glorious fruit!  Visitors are asking: why are some of the berries on the titan arum (or corpse flower) skinny and small, while … Continue reading Alice the Amorphophallus—An Update on Titan Arum Fruit

Corpse Flower Science: Will one Titan Twin bloom longer?

Well, here we are with another titan arum in bloom at the Chicago Botanic Garden. (Java, the taller of our Titan Twins, began blooming at 8:28 p.m. on May 30.) We never really considered the possibility that we might have two plants developing inflorescences at the same time. But it did not take too long to brainstorm … Continue reading Corpse Flower Science: Will one Titan Twin bloom longer?