Entries tagged with ‘Gustavus’Page 4
The Titan Awakens!
It’s been a long time since my last update on Perry, but he/she has been either stolidly photosynthesizing, dozing off, or sleeping for quite a while during the past couple of years. No more! Perry recently awakened from only four months of stony sleep (I had expected at least nine months…). This is startling, and […]
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 […]
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 a state of […]
Perry the Titan and Cousin Konjac Beckon
[Update, August 2,2010 (rather late…sorry) – Cousin Konjac has long since been renamed Ruby.] 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 […]
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 level. That’s […]
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 also […]
Twin Titans Twofer – Leaf and Inflorescence
Perry’s leaf began to emerge from the shoot yesterday. Stay tuned for rapid development. I’m at a chemistry meeting out of town right now, so personally missed the emergence, but Nick, who has been keeping tabs on the shoot during my absence, took some excellent photos. The leaf should eventually be titanic. Click here to […]