About a month or so ago there was a 'big stink' on the news, in the newspaper and so on about a plant growing in a greenhouse at the Huntington Library & Botanic Gardens in San Marino called a "Corpse Flower". There was also one at the Cal State Fullerton Arboretum a few years ago but I understand that the plant died due to someone over watering it! While I was still living in Utah, I think I heard that they also had one at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
These are unique plants that are pollinated by flies and other insects that are attracted to dead meat...so they smell like rotten meat! The big attraction to these plants is that they are very large, and if I'm not mistaken, the flower stalks are about 4 or 5 feet tall! It's funny to watch the news footage on TV because people actually come to see this phenomenon knowing that the plant is going to smell like rotten meat, but when they pass by the plant, they make ugly faces and hold their noses like it is a surprise to them!
When I was still in High School and living in Logan, Utah, one of the favorite stops on the way home from school, was to stop by the Woolworth's store on Main Street. Usually it was to buy candy to eat on the way home, but I always wanted to look at the tropical fish that they sold and also to look in the plant section to see if there was anything new or interesting.
One day I was surprised to find a display of what looked like some sort of a 'bulb' like plant, called a "Voodoo Lilly". I don't remember how much they cost, but being Woolworth's they couldn't have been more than a quarter or 50 cents so I purchased one and took it home. It was sealed in a little plastic bag with a paper label at the top with a photo showing what looked like a little palm tree growing out of the bulb structure. I believe it was labeled with the name Arum cornutum, but is now known as Typhonium venosum. How exciting it was to find such an unusual plant to grow! I can still remember how I hurried home to find a flower pot to plant my treasure in and then placed it in the window over the kitchen sink so it would get some nice morning sun.
As the days passed on I watched every day in anticipation of a new sprout popping out of the bulb. I wasn't dissappointed for very long as in just a week or 10 days, this little greenish/purplish stem started to grow out of the bulb. It was sooooo exciting to see this unusual plant begin to grow!
When I was still in High School and living in Logan, Utah, one of the favorite stops on the way home from school, was to stop by the Woolworth's store on Main Street. Usually it was to buy candy to eat on the way home, but I always wanted to look at the tropical fish that they sold and also to look in the plant section to see if there was anything new or interesting.
One day I was surprised to find a display of what looked like some sort of a 'bulb' like plant, called a "Voodoo Lilly". I don't remember how much they cost, but being Woolworth's they couldn't have been more than a quarter or 50 cents so I purchased one and took it home. It was sealed in a little plastic bag with a paper label at the top with a photo showing what looked like a little palm tree growing out of the bulb structure. I believe it was labeled with the name Arum cornutum, but is now known as Typhonium venosum. How exciting it was to find such an unusual plant to grow! I can still remember how I hurried home to find a flower pot to plant my treasure in and then placed it in the window over the kitchen sink so it would get some nice morning sun.
As the days passed on I watched every day in anticipation of a new sprout popping out of the bulb. I wasn't dissappointed for very long as in just a week or 10 days, this little greenish/purplish stem started to grow out of the bulb. It was sooooo exciting to see this unusual plant begin to grow!
It grew faily fast, reaching a height of about a foot in just a few short days. It then proceeded to send out a ring of foliage around the top and looked like a little palm tree! The stem or 'trunk' was colored sort of an olive green with purple splotches all along it. It made a very attractive plant sitting in the window above the sink, and all of my family commented on what an unusual plant it was!
I don't remember how long it stayed in the 'palm tree' mode, but at some point I think that around the base of the plant, a new structure started to come up and as it grew, I think the 'palm' like part of the plant started to collapse and die off. The new part that grew up was all dark purple, and looked to be somewhat vase shaped. It also had a central stalk growing up through the middle of the vase. I was in absolute extasy with this marvelous plant that was doing so many unusual things that we didn't expect! This was almost better than Christmas Morning it was so exciting!
One morning I woke up and went into the kitchen and my Mother was very busy up on a stepstool cleaning out the cupboards above the stove. I noticed a faint odor of something spoiled in the air. When I asked my Mother what she was doing, she told me that when she came into the kitchen it smelled strongly of what she thought might be a dead mouse, and that it was probably in one of the cupboards. I noticed that the doors and windows were open to let the fresh air in. About that time my younger brother came into the kitchen and I saw his nose crinkle as he picked up on the fetid smell also. As he went to the kitchen sink to get a glass of water, he commented that he thought the smell was stronger near the sink, and then announced that he thought it was coming from MY remarkable plant! Mother got down from the stool and came over and put her nose in the middle of the plant and disgustingly announced that he was right....THE PLANT DID STINK! I just couldn't believe it, my beautiful plant, my unusual plant that everyone commented on and liked so well just couldn't be putting out that horrible smell! Mother pushed the plant in my direction motioning for me to take a whiff, and I did! What a horrible smell...exactly like a dead animal!
Well, needless to say, my wonderful plant was banned to the outdoors, in fact way out to the far side of the back yard so there would be no chance of the awful smell to find it's way back into the house. Along with that came a stern warning from Mother to never, and she emphasized NEVER to bring a strange plant home again!
I did though....while in college, I found some Fritillaria lilies that I planted in the yard. I had just seen how pretty they were and so I planted some not knowing that they too have an objectionable smell to them....but that will be a story for another time!
Have a good day, and thanks for visiting my blog!
Ron, the Plant Man
I don't remember how long it stayed in the 'palm tree' mode, but at some point I think that around the base of the plant, a new structure started to come up and as it grew, I think the 'palm' like part of the plant started to collapse and die off. The new part that grew up was all dark purple, and looked to be somewhat vase shaped. It also had a central stalk growing up through the middle of the vase. I was in absolute extasy with this marvelous plant that was doing so many unusual things that we didn't expect! This was almost better than Christmas Morning it was so exciting!
One morning I woke up and went into the kitchen and my Mother was very busy up on a stepstool cleaning out the cupboards above the stove. I noticed a faint odor of something spoiled in the air. When I asked my Mother what she was doing, she told me that when she came into the kitchen it smelled strongly of what she thought might be a dead mouse, and that it was probably in one of the cupboards. I noticed that the doors and windows were open to let the fresh air in. About that time my younger brother came into the kitchen and I saw his nose crinkle as he picked up on the fetid smell also. As he went to the kitchen sink to get a glass of water, he commented that he thought the smell was stronger near the sink, and then announced that he thought it was coming from MY remarkable plant! Mother got down from the stool and came over and put her nose in the middle of the plant and disgustingly announced that he was right....THE PLANT DID STINK! I just couldn't believe it, my beautiful plant, my unusual plant that everyone commented on and liked so well just couldn't be putting out that horrible smell! Mother pushed the plant in my direction motioning for me to take a whiff, and I did! What a horrible smell...exactly like a dead animal!
Well, needless to say, my wonderful plant was banned to the outdoors, in fact way out to the far side of the back yard so there would be no chance of the awful smell to find it's way back into the house. Along with that came a stern warning from Mother to never, and she emphasized NEVER to bring a strange plant home again!
I did though....while in college, I found some Fritillaria lilies that I planted in the yard. I had just seen how pretty they were and so I planted some not knowing that they too have an objectionable smell to them....but that will be a story for another time!
Have a good day, and thanks for visiting my blog!
Ron, the Plant Man
