The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Scientists aim to find secrets of plant’s pong
Botanists ready if ‘corpse flower’ goes into bloom once again
Scottish scientists are to study the world’s most smelly plant – in a bid to discover how it produces its famous stench.
Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum) is known as the “corpse flower” because of the reek of rotting flesh it emits in full bloom.
A specimen flowered for the first time ever in Scotland in 2015, at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE).
It is thought the plant – which can shoot up to nearly three metres (almost 10ft) in height – could be set to bloom again this summer and release its rotting flesh pong to attract pollinators.
Botanists want to find out more about its smell and also why so many of the plants are flowering around the world at the same time.
Dr Peter Wilkie, a tropical forest botanist at the RBGE, said: “The last time the Amorphophallus titanum flowered we studied its morphology and structure – this time we want to better understand its biology.
“We want to investigate how it produces its famous smell, what pollinators are attracted to the smell and what animals disperse its seed.
“We are also keen to investigate why several plants are flowering in different parts of the world at the same time – are there particular environmental triggers?
“Are the plants that flower at the same time very closely related genetically? For such an iconic plant, there is so much we don’t yet know.”
The corpse flower is native only to the Bukit Barisan range of mountains in West Sumatra, where it is now classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.
During its short flowering period it uses a “dead-meat” stench to attract pollinating insects such as carrion beetles and flies, which are drawn to the smell.
It is caused by a mix of gases emitted by the heating up of parts of the central flower spike at night.
The RBGE was gifted its corm in 2003 by Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, Netherlands.
It was nurtured in a tropical glasshouse for 12 years before it finally flowered for the first time in 2015.
The stunning full bloom, which lasted for four days, was one of the tallest on record and measured two metres (6ft) in diameter at its peak, attracting more than 20,000 visitors.
Botanists plan to pollinate the plant if it does flower this summer, causing it to close quicker than previously.
Dr Wilkie added: “It is very exciting that this year we have decided to pollinate, if it does flower.
“This will allow us to monitor and record the development of the seeds over the coming months.
“This, unfortunately, will shorten the period of time the flowering structure will be erect but we need to balance the demands of the viewing public with the need to undertake important research and collect important data that can be shared with the scientific and conservation community.”
“For such an iconic plant, there is so much we don’t yet know