Wolfgang, Amorphophallus titanum, is part of the Araceae family. Amorphophallus titanum has many common names such as corpse flower, titan arum, and corpse lily. Native to Indonesia, the titan arum can reach 15 feet tall. The corpse flower is unique not only because of its pungent smell but by its unusual flower structure. The spadix is the cream center structure and can grow up to 12 feet tall. A purple and green spathe wraps around the spadix to give the appearance of rotting flesh. Titan arums use this display and odor to attract their main pollinators, flies. In North Carolina, the corpse flower must be grown in a controlled environment like a greenhouse to complete its life cycle.
Titan arums can take up to seven years to bloom for the first time. The corpse flower starts as an underground structure called a corm. Just like a gladiolus, potato, or other geophytes, this underground structure stores energy for the plant to use in the following season. During the first year of growth, the corm will send up a spike that turns into one gigantic leaf with complex leaflets. After 12-18 months, the leaf will drop and the plant will go dormant. This cycle can happen 5-7 times before producing a flower. When the corm has enough energy stored, a spike will emerge containing the flowering structure.
The corpse flower is often mistaken for the largest flower. However, it is actually the largest unbranched inflorescence in the Plant Kingdom with its many separate male and female flowers occurring at the base of the spadix. The female flowers open first followed by the male flowers to prevent self-pollination. The spadix and spathe will only last for 2-3 days. Once pollination is completed, the spadix and spathe will collapse to reveal the infructescence. Seeds on the infructescence will ripen six months to a year after the initial flowering. Each fruit contains 1-2 seeds that carry the genetic code for the next generation of titan arum.
The titan arum gives off a distinct aroma resembling rotting flesh. The corpse flower dispenses many foul-smelling chemicals to entice the pollinators like flies, beetles, and bees to the base of the spadix where the flowers are located. The spadix releases mainly dimethyl trisulfide which gives the scent of boiled cabbage or aged cheese. Other compounds like trimethylamine and isovaleric acid add the scent of rotting fish or sweaty socks to the mix. As the cherry on top, benzyl alcohol adds a flowery sweet smell.
Traditionally, universities, botanical gardens and corpse flower enthusiasts playfully give their corpse flower a nickname when they are going to bloom for the first time. Here are some of the nicknames other organizations have given their corpse flowers.
Chicago Botanic Garden
The Huntington Botanical Gardens
University of California, Riverside
https://cals.ncsu.edu/corpse-flower-nc-state/
https://www.jlbg.org/content/learn/amorphophallus-titanum.php
https://blog.jlbg.org/clash-of-the-titans/
https://huntington.org/corpse-flower
https://www.usbg.gov/gardens-plants/corpse-flowers
https://www.nybg.org/garden/the-corpse-flower-amorphophallus-titanum/