‘Titan Arum’ Category
Perry’s Putrid Plume Prods Primeval Sense
Here’s the latest roll-out of the serial tabulation of public impressions of Perry’s complex, magnificent fragrance (#4 in the series). For the previous installment, click here. Note the change in perceptions over time. I thought that the fragrance changed significantly over the couple of days that Perry was in flower (though she/he was only in [...]
An Animalically Fragrant Ruby Tuesday
For all of you Perry the Corpse Flower fans out there, Perry’s smaller cousin, Ruby, is now putting on a spectacular display, both visual and olfactory, in the Gustavus greenhouse (click here and here for posts on Ruby and her/his fans from last spring, along with graphic descriptions of his/her vile/sublime fragrance). Below are thumbnails linking [...]
Remembrance of Corpse Flowers Past
This blog post will immortalize, to the extent that the Tubes of the Internet are Immortal, some of the comments left by visitors to Perry the Corpse Flower. Her/his sibling Bob, who flowered at the Marjorie McNeely (aka Como) Conservatory last spring produced similar impressions – those are stored in the memories of thousands of [...]
A Perry Potpourri
Michael & Company Visit Perry Earlier this summer I received a bolt-from-the-blue e-mail from my former student/student-researcher Dan Eppley. Dan graduated in 1989 and is now a professor in the Religion Department at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania (this illustrates the great versatility of a Chemistry degree from Gustavus…). Dan and his family and some [...]
What Did Perry Smell Like? Installment #2
For those readers who might initially have thought otherwise, this post deals with Perry, our largest plant of the Titan Arum / Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum), not with a human of that name. Quite a while back (May 22, 2007), I posted a preliminary transcript of written comments by people who were exiting the Perry Room, [...]
Gigantic Leaf Garners Gawkers
The leaf of Perry, our largest plant of the Titan Arum / Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) continues to induce rapt attention in humans. A trickle of gawkers streams by, lingering in the hallway like objects slowly shifting in a gurgling brook. (Note: keep in mind that I’m considering submission of an entry in the Bulwer-Lytton [...]
A Titanic Ruby Thursday
Walking toward the greenhouse door this morning down a hallway redolent of dead mice, I suspected that great things were to come. My entry into the greenhouse was greeted by a glorious wave of abominable stench. Inside at the time were Emily (our greenhouse manager), a guest, and Ruby, all three in [...]
Perry the Titan and Cousin Konjac Beckon
Perry, our largest plant of Amorphophallus titanum, has now exceeded our 2.4 meter measuring stick in height. We’ll probably move a ladder into the room soon so as to be able to use a tape measure for gathering data points. The petiole of the leaf shoot has developed a slight, but obvious sinusoidal [...]
Titan Tops Two Meters, Calls for Admirers
Perry, our largest plant of Amorphophallus titanum, continues to grow her/his awe-inspiring leaf at a remarkable rate. The leaf had topped two meters by about 4:30 Sunday afternoon (April 13), up from 191 cm at about the same time on Saturday. The leaf base is now approximately 6.5 inches in diameter at ground [...]
Tiny Titan Trasfixes Thousands
Bob the Tiny Titan opened his/her inflorescence at the Majorie McNeely (aka Como) Conservatory in St. Paul over April 9-10. Thousands visited and were astounded. Many also dipped into the visceral depths of olfactory challenge presented by Bob. I made a trip to Como on Thursday afternoon (April 10), as did Philip (who was [...]