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World record? - The Titan Arum is flowering next week
May 16, 2003The world's largest bloom can very soon be admired at the Botanical Gardens of the University of Bonn. In addition to the enormous size of this inflorescence, which can reach a height of over two-and-a-half metres, the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is also characterised by a powerful and foul stench given off during flowering. This rare plant is expected to open its gigantic inflorescence in the second half of the coming week.
This year might even see an all-time world record, since the tuber, or corm from which inflorescence grows, now weighs 80 kilograms, twice as much as during the last flowering that occurred three years ago. Last time Bonn's Titan Arum had the second largest bloom, only just missing the world record, when it reached a height of 257 centimetres. The documented record is still held by a specimen grown in the Dutch town of Wageningen, which shot up to a height of 267 centimetres.
It is already the eighth time that the Titan Arum has flowered in Bonn. At the last event, in 2000, more than 15,000 visitors came to the Botanical Garden to witness the huge fountain-shaped inflorescence with their own eyes (and noses). This year the university is again expecting five-digit visitor numbers.
The bloom will unfurl during an afternoon in the second half of the coming week. On that day the Botanical Garden will be open until 11:00 p.m. and on the following day from 7:00 am to 8:00 p.m.
Some plant enthusiasts will prefer to keep in touch with the Titan Arum's development from home without having to stand for hours in the long queues. For them, a webcam is about to be activated, enabling online observation of the plant around the clock. From today, Friday, a telephone hotline providing information is available on 0228/73-4722 with daily updates.
For the latest news on Bonn's Titan Arum visit:
http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/botgart/amorpho2003.html
Bonn, Universitaet
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