Wild Titan's ?/YES

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at msn.com> on 2006.08.23 at 22:57:41(14554) Reply-To : Discussion of aroids Sent : Tuesday, August 22, 2006 9:22 PM To : Subject : [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ? Dear Skip and all other Amorphophallus "freaks" out there, I am not able to resist once more stepping up to the plate as a bit of a 'shill' on behalf of the IAS! Thanks for your question, Skip, it was well worth pondering! Yes, actually in the past quite a bit of information on this particular species has been published in several great articles in our yearly Journal the "Aroideana" mag. In past issues there have been WONDERFUL articles and discussions with photos of wild blooming A. titanums AND other giant species of Amorphophallus', together with discussions and photos on the probable/possible pollinators. The famous 'stench' produced at anthesis in the jungle makes certain that the pollinators are attracted from both near and far, and since these plants do not seem to be unusually uncommon in nature, pollination and fruiting did not seem uncommon. In fact there were photos of a huge infructesence in the wild! The distributors of ripe fruit and seed were reported to be giant horn-bill birds, they swallow the fruit whole, and re-gurgitate the seeds in perfect condition at quite a distance from the 'mother' plant. These articles are authored by such greats as our own 'King Phallus' AKA my friend Wilbert Hetterschied, the late Dr. Jim Symon, another by an Italian Lady-Doctor, etc. etc. Back-issues of these publications are still available at nominal cost from the IAS. Dr. Attenborough was with Jim Simon and Wilbert on the quest for blooming Amorphophallus' in the wilds, and great images appear on the made-for-TV special named (I think!) "The wonderful life of plants'' or some-such, still available in video and book-form, well worth the price, so check it out. In her WONDERFUL book on Aroids, our own Deni Bown also tracks the elusive blooms of A. titanum, and provides great photos and info. on this icon of our world of aroids. So---come on folks, join us as members of the IAS, and so support our ongoing research and interest into this wonderful world of plants, and so get your yearly 'doses' of Aroideanas and our monthly newsletters! Please consider joining us in Sept. in Miami, come meet some of the characters who make up the IAS and see live specimens of these giants and others, the growing legacy of the fantasticly tallented grower Craig Alan, the plants from seeds ex: the great Dr. Jim Simon, get to (maybe!) even touch a petiole the size of your thigh, and so experience that the name 'Amorphophallus' probably did NOT only originate from the spadix`s shape or lack thereof, etc.!!! Step right up, folks, right this way----!!! Good Growing, Julius Boos +More WPB, Florida Aroiders, Good morning. I was fortunate to be in New York when the Titan was blooming at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Great work you guys ! Seeing this amazing plant and hearing about Titans blooming all over of the world in captivity made me wonder?are there any pictures of titans blooming in the wild ? How rare is this event for wild Titan's. Based on the discussions about the desperate search for pollen I can't imagine the odds of two Titan's blooming close enough to each other and at the right time to facilitate natural pollination. Cheers, Skip<< _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Bryant, Susan L." SLBryant at scj.com> on 2006.08.24 at 12:24:35(14555) Good shill, Julius! The show was called The Private life of plants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Private_Life_of_Plants +More When the University of Wisconsin had a Titan blooming, they had a TV/VCR set up with this playing, so one could watch it while standing in the rather long line. Shows titanum in the wild, also Lord P and Attenborough climbing about in the forest and sticking their heads inside blooms to describe the smell. _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Wilbert Hetterscheid" hetter at xs4all.nl> on 2006.08.24 at 16:07:26(14556) Hin Susan, Lord P here: are you sure I was in the footage??? I never saw that in the BBC-series, so care to explain where the footage came from? I don't quite understand this. Cheerio, Lord P. +More > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- > Van: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com > [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] Namens Bryant, Susan L. > Verzonden: donderdag 24 augustus 2006 14:25 > Aan: Discussion of aroids > Onderwerp: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES > > Good shill, Julius! > > The show was called The Private life of plants > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Private_Life_of_Plants > When the University of Wisconsin had a Titan blooming, they > had a TV/VCR set up with this playing, so one could watch it > while standing in the rather long line. Shows titanum in the > wild, also Lord P and Attenborough climbing about in the > forest and sticking their heads inside blooms to describe the smell. > > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-l mailing list > Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: abri1973 at wp.pl> on 2006.08.24 at 16:59:59(14557) Hello, I have these photos scanned in my page by permission of the editor. http://www.wschowa.com/abrimaal/araceum/amorphophallus/titanum.htm Marek +More ----- Original Message ----- To: "Discussion of aroids" Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 2:24 PM Subject: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES Good shill, Julius! The show was called The Private life of plants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Private_Life_of_Plants When the University of Wisconsin had a Titan blooming, they had a TV/VCR set up with this playing, so one could watch it while standing in the rather long line. Shows titanum in the wild, also Lord P and Attenborough climbing about in the forest and sticking their heads inside blooms to describe the smell. _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Bryant, Susan L." SLBryant at scj.com> on 2006.08.25 at 12:19:39(14558) Sorry Lord P, Memory gets more faulty with age. Perhaps I get my Lords mixed up. Oh Wait, Attenborough was only a Sir, his brother was the Lord. OK, series shows some good looking man clambering about the countryside, must not have been Wilbert. hi hi Ta Susan +More -----Original Message----- [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Wilbert Hetterscheid Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 11:07 AM To: 'Discussion of aroids' Subject: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES Hin Susan, Lord P here: are you sure I was in the footage??? I never saw that in the BBC-series, so care to explain where the footage came from? I don't quite understand this. Cheerio, Lord P. > _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Wilbert Hetterscheid" hetter at xs4all.nl> on 2006.08.25 at 15:57:08(14560) In fact, in the meantime I am like TWO good looking men............... Lord P+P > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- +More > Van: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com > [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] Namens Bryant, Susan L. > Verzonden: vrijdag 25 augustus 2006 14:20 > Aan: Discussion of aroids > Onderwerp: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES > > Sorry Lord P, > Memory gets more faulty with age. Perhaps I get my Lords > mixed up. Oh Wait, Attenborough was only a Sir, his brother > was the Lord. > OK, series shows some good looking man clambering about the > countryside, must not have been Wilbert. hi hi Ta Susan > -----Original Message----- > From: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com > [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Wilbert > Hetterscheid > Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 11:07 AM > To: 'Discussion of aroids' > Subject: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES > > Hin Susan, > > Lord P here: are you sure I was in the footage??? I never saw > that in the BBC-series, so care to explain where the footage > came from? I don't quite understand this. > > Cheerio, > Lord P. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-l mailing list > Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: bonaventure at optonline.net on 2006.08.28 at 05:44:56(14565) Is there available any saved pollen of Amorphophallus titanum for possible future Amorphophallus cross pollinations to be done by serious hobbyists in their own collections? Bonaventure Magrys +More Cliffwood Beach, NJ USA _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Horak, David" davidhorak at bbg.org> on 2006.08.29 at 15:49:16(14569) Title: Message This posed an interesting question for us here at the Garden. Normally our collections policy is based on institutional distributions. The complexities of international treaties, their interpretation and public opinion mean that institutions often need to be conservative in their actions. While this can mean that distributions of seed, plants (including excess plants and divisions) or plant parts may not be available to those who might be efficacious at contributing to real meaningful conservation efforts-the serious hobbyists-this is not uniform in the botanic garden world, but I suspect that it might get more so with time. It is probably axiomatic that the more threatened a species is, the more difficulties there will be in trying to save it. In this instance though, we did save pollen from the recent blooming of our A. titanum and because of its relatively short viability, are willing to possibly make it available to both institutions and the serious hobbyist. Of course this will be on a case-by-case basis, but please, anyone serious, dedicated and fortunate enough to be able to bloom one should contact us. Dave Horak +More BBG -----Original Message-----From: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of bonaventure@optonline.netSent: Monday, August 28, 2006 1:45 AMTo: Discussion of aroidsSubject: Re: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES Is there available any saved pollen of Amorphophallus titanum for possible future Amorphophallus cross pollinations to be done by serious hobbyists in their own collections? Bonaventure Magrys Cliffwood Beach, NJ USA _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: bonaventure at optonline.net on 2006.08.31 at 01:38:33(14571) Thank you Dave, My intentions were of the more "mad scientist" type. I was hoping there was an excess of pollen, but for my purposes the point is moot anyway. you see I wanted to try to cross titanum with the konjacs that are now taking over my front yard and bloom in spring. I have become jaded and am no longer impressed with their 2 foot high inflorescences and 4 foot high and wide leaves. I am though still impressed by their extreme hardiness and reliability of bloom and their powers of vegetative increase and I may be a bit insane in wanting a larger version with possibly cold tolerence plus hybrid vigor to boot. Bonaventure +More ----- Original Message ----- Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 12:02 pm Subject: RE: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES To: Discussion of aroids > This posed an interesting question for us here at the Garden. Normally > our collections policy is based on institutional distributions. The > complexities of international treaties, their interpretation and > publicopinion mean that institutions often need to be > conservative in their > actions. While this can mean that distributions of seed, plants > (including excess plants and divisions) or plant parts may not be > available to those who might be efficacious at contributing to real > meaningful conservation efforts-the serious hobbyists-this is not > uniform in the botanic garden world, but I suspect that it might get > more so with time. It is probably axiomatic that the more > threatened a > species is, the more difficulties there will be in trying to > save it. > > In this instance though, we did save pollen from the recent > blooming of > our A. titanum and because of its relatively short viability, are > willing to possibly make it available to both institutions and the > serious hobbyist. Of course this will be on a case-by-case > basis, but > please, anyone serious, dedicated and fortunate enough to be > able to > bloom one should contact us. > > Dave Horak > > BBG > > -----Original Message----- > From: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com > [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of > bonaventure@optonline.net > Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 1:45 AM > To: Discussion of aroids > Subject: Re: RE: [Aroid-l] Wild Titan's ?/YES > > > > > Is there available any saved pollen of Amorphophallus titanum > for possible future Amorphophallus cross pollinations to be done by > serious hobbyists in their own collections? > > Bonaventure Magrys > Cliffwood Beach, NJ USA > > _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

Note: this is a very old post, so no reply function is available.