Rare giant plant finally blossoms at Taman Mini

Rare giant plant finally blossoms at Taman Mini

JAKARTA (JP): The amorphallus titanum, a member of the
rafflesia family of giant plants, has bloomed at Taman Mini
Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta.

The rare flower bloomed four days later than expected and is
the largest ever recorded in Indonesia. The plant is also known
as the "corpse flower" (bunga bangkai) because it emits a foul
odor.

Made Sri Prana, manager of the Taman Mini Aviary and Director
of the Resource and Development Center for Biotechnology at the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said he planted the
flower in an area behind the bird park on Feb. 7.

He said a heavy rain shower was probably the reason the plant
flowered several days late.

Two other attempts to grow the plant at Taman Mini failed due
to pests and disease.

The flower, expected to bloom for seven days, sprouted from a
tuber weighing 29.9 kilograms obtained from a garden in Bengkulu
province.

The flower began to blossom at 5.20 p.m. on Friday and reached
its apex at 3 a.m. yesterday, with a height of 217 centimeters
and diameter of 119 centimeters.

These measurements broke the national record for a cadaver
flower. The previous record was 180 centimeters in height for a
plant at the Bogor Botanical Gardens in 1994. The stem of the
cream-colored flower in Taman Mini continued to grow after
blossoming.

The stench of the plant was apparent several days before it
bloomed, Made said. (bay)