From: "Craig M. Allen" cm_allen at yahoo.com> on 1999.09.08 at 14:36:20(3623)
The good news is that our Amorphophallus titanum is still alive and still
amazingly beautiful. The bad news is that it hasn't opened.
To be honest I'm beginning to worry that there won't be a stinky Alice. The
bloom has changed little. The only visible changes are not good ones. There is
more drying around the edges of the spathe. Really noticeable today is a dry
edge where the spathe overlaps itself. When looking at the profile of the
spathe, it has actually closed back slightly on the spadix about a foot below
the top of the fringed top edge. The furrows on the spadix look a little more
sunken. Last years inflorescence didn't have this appearance until near the end
of the bloom cycle. I'm hoping for the best but worried.
.More bad news.
Because of the long term this flowering has been taking, the display is going
to have to be dismantled by Thursday afternoon. Fairchild was lucky to have the
display space for such a long time. The auditorium in which the Titan is
located is almost alway booked solid. We have tried to move the schedualled
meetings to other locations, but unfortunately that will no longer be possible.
I would love to move my beauty back to the conservatory, but it won't fit
through our standard sized doors. With pot and flower there is a fragile 8 foot
wonder of nature to transport. We will assemble a smaller display in the back
of the room.
There is a new South Florida TV news magazine that wants to film a segment on
our baby. I told them they have to be here before noon Thursday to get the
beautiful current display.
Well I guess that is it for tonight. Stay tuned for the further adventures of
Alice the Amorphophallus in Miami.
===
Craig M. Allen
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