Today’s guest: Mortabella, the titan arum
Scientific name: Amorphophallus titanum
Sofia: Hello! I’m Sofia Ceiba. And today, we are live on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, where we have the pleasure of chatting with Mortabella.
Mortabella, you’re a titan arum. And I believe your species produces the largest flowers in the plant kingdom. You truly are a showstopper!
Mortabella: Thank you, dear Sofia. It’s lovely to be here with you. Our spectacular blooms are world-famous.
Sofia: You’re known as a corpse flower. And I must say that is … um … a unique fragrance you’re wearing.
Mortabella: Thank you for noticing, my dear. My fragrance is specially formulated to attract carrion beetles and flesh flies, insects that feed on dead things and lay their eggs in them. These are my pollinators.
Sofia: Wow, that is a unique group of pollinators. Tell me more. How exactly do you let insects know where to find you in the forest?
Mortabella: Of course, dear. You’ll notice I have a big column sticking out of my inflorescence here. That’s a stem called a spadix. It is surrounded by a skirt-like structure called a spathe, which resembles a large petal. Isn’t it beautiful?
Sofia: Yes! It is impressive.
Mortabella: My flowers are arranged on the bottom of the spadix and protected by the spathe. I have female and male flowers on the spadix.
When I’m ready to have my pollen collected and spread to other titan arums, my inflorescence heats way up and releases a scent that captivates carrion insects from all over. They land on my spadix and trap pollen on themselves, which they deliver to other titan arum female flowers. Or, they bring in pollen from other titan arums and pollinate me.
Sofia: Since our audience isn’t here to enjoy it, can you describe your fragrance to them?
Mortabella: Some people tell me my flowers smell like a dead body. Chemicals in my fragrance create smells found in stinky cheeses, rotting garbage, dog poop, and even stinky socks. And when I heat up, my aroma can spread in all directions for a kilometer (or half a mile)! Isn’t that marvelous?
Sofia: Sounds like it would be marvelous if I were a carrion insect. How often do you … uh … release your pungent odor?
Mortabella: It can take several years for our flowers to bloom. We have to build up a lot of energy to create our fragrance, and also the heat needed to broadcast it. For those of us living in botanical gardens, it’s a big deal when we bloom — humans come from all over to experience our corpse flower fragrance.
Sofia: Mortabella, it’s been a privilege. Hopefully I’ll see you again in a few years. That wraps up this episode of Talking to Plants. Wish you could all be here to share in this unique experience.
Written by David Brown. Edited and illustrated by Megan Strauss.
