THE giant Titan Arum Flower

With a growth rate of about six inches per day, the Titan Arum takes a course of months to grow to the full height of three meters tall in blooming state. When fully developed, the inflorescence has a light brown flower spike inside, also known as the spadix. Enveloping this is a cover of petal-like leaves called the spathe, which are green on the outside and dark purple on the inside. As the Titan Arum is in full bloom, small red fruits are produced and become attached to the spadix. Encyclopedia Britannica’s Amorphophallus Titanum article describes how, once the vibrant fruits are fully formed and almost completely covering the spadix, they “collapse away to facilitate their dispersal, commonly done by rhinoceros hornbills and other animals.” From there, the plant begins to go dormant and recuperates to be ready to bloom again in a few years. When the plant is dormant, the underground comb of nutrients called the corm helps form the petiole. The white, spotted, stalk-like leaf that reaches 4.5-7 meters tall has three branches out to allow leaflets to form, as well. The corm, weighing anywhere from 70 kg to over 100 kg, the largest in the plant kingdom, allows the Titan Arum to photosynthesise up to 18 months in order to be able to bloom again.