Most flowers do not have a symbolic sexual connotation to humans, but the members of the aroid family do and the genus Amorphophallus in particular. Their name means deformed or shapeless penis (phallus). This connotation is strictly in the mind of humans - the plants only care about attracting their pollinators. Only mature plants produce an inflorescence, which may replace the leaf in one season or develop along side of it.
For most species, flowering starts just prior to the onset of rains in their native land. In cultivation, they seem to adjust their inner clocks to spring or early summer flowering schedules. Asian species that are effectively pollinated won't develop leaves during the same season, but will rest until the next one. African species always develop leaves during each growing season whether they flower or not.
Their flower is actually an inflorescence, which is typical of the Araceae family, that is made up of a spathe, which surrounds the stalk-like spadix. the real flowers are tiny, reduced organs found at the base of the spadix. The female flowers, reduced to a pistil, are at the bottom; the male flowers, who consist of a group of stamens, above. The rest of the spadix, called the appendix, is generally sterile.
Previously obsessed with stems and foliage, my burgeoning passion added another facet upon the discovery of the fabulous forms of Amorphophallus inflorescence.
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The entire structure - spathe and spadix - act as one large flower to attract pollinators. From beautiful to grotesque, inflorescence also vary considerably in size. The images do not reflect actual scale. |
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Inflorescences come in all sizes. The giant titan arum (A. titanum ), which is huge in all its parts, is, I think, the largest. The tuber can reach eighteen inches (45.72 cm) in diameter, the A. titanum petiole gets to be ten or fifteen feet tall (3.04 - 4.87 m), with a spathe four feet across (1.23 m), from the center of which rises a spadix six feet tall (1.82 m)! The stench produced by this giant is said to be extraordinary as well. Unfortunately, the harvesting of mature tubers and habitat disturbances by humans are putting this majestic plant at risk.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are tiny species like A. obscurus, whose entire inflorescence is hardly larger than a pencil eraser.
