My Little Stinkers Are Ready!

For many years I have been raising a unique plant known as Amorphophallus konjac. I first came in contact with this aroid plant when, in my freshman year of college (1969), my chemistry teacher proudly exhibited his blossoming specimens. This plant in the summer has one giant divided leaf on top of a 5-6' tall green and purple mottled, fleshy stalk (petiole). When old enough, the tuber produces a fascinating six-foot flower resembling a giant vase made from the purple vinyl used for cheap '70s car seats. This description is from a great nursery on-line catalog, which can be found at http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/00783.html. The vase (spathe) is home to a 3' purple spadix that sits atop a 2' speckled petiole.

During the fall I always remove the tubers from the flower garden and let them dry in the basement on a shelf. I have now placed them in a basket and brought them upstairs where they are now exposed to the sunlight. They will bloom without benefit of water or soil in several weeks! At the height of growth, they grow several inches per day. I shall keep you informed on the little stinkers progress. Let me see- did I say “Little Stinkers”?

What a wonderful bloom! My wife might disagree with the adjective “wonderful”. These plants produce an odor very similar to decaying flesh. This smell is very potent and one blossom will let its presence be known throughout the house. These blossoms are pollinated by flesh flies. I always am amazed with the complexity and the interconnectivity found in nature. The tuber below is a foot in diameter.