Perry the Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) has grown massively since my last post, and is nearing anthesis. I and various Perryophiles, including a growing number of students, have been documenting this reach for the sky. See captions on each of the photos for details of the surge.
Click here for three live streaming Perry webcams. Perry is also on Facebook, and posts regularly. Click here for a Flickr set that documents Perry and fans from 2004 until the present, including many pictures that are not on the blog.
Perryophiles, left to right: Matthew Huber (St. Peter High School), Nathan Huber (Gustavus ’16), Rachel Bachman (Gustavus ’16), Serenity Mahoney (Gustavus ’15), Nathan Friedley (Gustavus ’15). Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Perryophiles, left to right: Andrea Gruver (Gustavus ’15), Brian O’Brien (Georgia Tech, a while back), Nick Ulen (Gustavus ’15), Serenity Mahoney (Gustavus ’15), Nathan Friedley (Gustavus ’15), Nathan Huber (Gustavus ’16), Matthew Huber (St. Peter High School). Friday, October 25, 2013.
Perry has been developing the telltale purple-maroon pigment in his/her spadix and spathe – sure signs of impending anthesis. Monday, October 28, 2013.
The leafy bracts that encompass the base of Perry’s inflorescence will probably fall away rather suddenly a short period before anthesis. They are white inside, and will look like white flags lying atop the pot, once they fall. Watch…
Monday, October 28, 2013.
Today – Monday, October 28, 2013, Perry was nearly 7 feet tall (ok – about 6.9 feet). About 210 centimeters.