WWTBAM Bored

Cornell's Titan Arum plant, nicknamed the "Corpse Flower" for the scent of rotting meat that it gives off to attract pollinating insects, is expected to bloom in the next day or two. I visited it this morning (and posted some photos on Evil Facebook).

It's not nearly as exciting as the Great Blue Herons, but they've got a live webcam feed.

http://titanarum.cals.cornell.edu/video/

Right now, you can eavesdrop on the other visitors to the plant. I checked it last night, after visiting hours, and it was just the plant sitting there with the sound of the greenhouse fans in the background.

When it last bloomed in March 2012, they say they had about 10,000 live visitors and 500,000 visitors to the webcam. They're prepared to handle a big crowd again, this week, with signs directing people in one entrance and then to exit out a side door.

Did you hear the RadioLab program this week about the guy who waited 50 years to see a piece of pitch drop*, missed it the 2 times it did during that time (the 2nd time a camera was set up but didn't work) & died before the most recent drop?


At least this flower will both bloom & stink inside recorded history. For its fans! (Not just the greenhouse fans, either.)


*Apparently pitch flows, but, like solid glass, it flows very very slowly. Faster than glass, though.

No, I didn't hear that, ghost.

It's sort of like visiting the geysers at Yellowstone. Old Faithful still spouts every hour or so, but there are some that have months between each eruption.

ghostjmf wrote:Did you hear the RadioLab program this week about the guy who waited 50 years to see a piece of pitch drop*, missed it the 2 times it did during that time (the 2nd time a camera was set up but didn't work) & died before the most recent drop?


At least this flower will both bloom & stink inside recorded history. For its fans! (Not just the greenhouse fans, either.)


*Apparently pitch flows, but, like solid glass, it flows very very slowly. Faster than glass, though.

Because we are who we are and I have already referenced Corning today. Flowing glass is a common myth.

http://www.cmog.org/article/does-glass-flow

Let us know your opinion of the aroma if you go back when it blooms.

Oh, I plan to!


I'm not sure how I missed the first time it bloomed, but I'm trying to pay more attention to the cool and unusual opportunities that come from living in an Ivy League town.

We had a plant like that at the UNC Charlotte greenhouse a few years ago. They were sending out tweets so people would know when to rush over there.

geoffil wrote:Let us know your opinion of the aroma if you go back when it blooms.

It's quite a concoction.

'The author of the Wikipedia article wrote:Stench

As the spathe gradually opens, the spadix releases powerful odors to attract pollinators. The potency of the aroma gradually increases from late evening until the middle of the night and then tapers off as morning arrives. Analyses of chemicals released by the spadix show the “stench” includes dimethyl trisulfide (like limburger cheese), dimethyl disulfide, trimethylamine (rotting fish), isovaleric acid (sweaty socks), benzyl alcohol (sweet floral scent), phenol (like Chloraseptic), and indole (like mothballs).

I looked it up because I thought that the ones around here (Huntington Library, Cal State Fullerton & another) all bloom less frequently. IIRC, they are more to the every 10 years of the spectrum. The Wiki article says it can be from 2 up to 10 years between blooms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum

Nice collection of scents, Esto! Are you sure you wouldn't want that for Axe, christie?

It still hasn't blossomed, as of this morning. And, yes, this one seems to be reproducing with reckless abandon. According to a handout from Cornell (available through the website I linked to, above),

one specimen at Kew Botanic Garden in England flowered in 1889 and didn't flower again until 1926!

MarleysGh0st wrote:Nice collection of scents, Esto! Are you sure you wouldn't want that for Axe, christie?

It still hasn't blossomed, as of this morning. And, yes, this one seems to be reproducing with reckless abandon. According to a handout from Cornell (available through the website I linked to, above),

one specimen at Kew Botanic Garden in England flowered in 1889 and didn't flower again until 1926!

Speaking of Axe, I wonder if that name came from axilla?

Speaking of Axe, I wonder if that name came from axilla?

Nope. And in the UK, it is Lynx.

christie1111 wrote:

Speaking of Axe, I wonder if that name came from axilla?

Nope. And in the UK, it is Lynx.

Which reminds me, I've found a mute for a banjo:

Spoiler

Wee Stinky is flowering!

I got the update e-mail around 6 this evening and I was already going to a talk on the Ice Age in the Finger Lakes (which felt rather appropriate on this cold day) so I'll wait until tomorrow to go see it. They've extended their visiting hours until 10 pm and their webcam shows that they're already getting quite an excited crowd.

This is the only Wee Stinky I know of...



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