The chemistry of stink

From: Steve Marak samarak at arachne.uark.edu> on 2001.05.26 at 04:34:00(6567) I was quietly catching up on e-mail this morning when a typhonium announced another inflorescence as only typhoniums can. It is a peculiar stench, initially just a slithering at the edge of awareness, then suddenly I'm wondering how I came to be down wind from a pig farm, or perhaps one of those really large cattle feed lots. It's definitely more insidious than, and at least as potent as, the something-dead smell of, say, Dracunculus vulgaris. It's made me wonder if anyone has determined just what the substance(s) responsible for this unique pungency is/are? The typhonium in question today is T. divaricatum, obtained several years ago from a friend on this list. It has always grown well enough, flowering once or twice, but this year that pot has done exceptionally well, flowering repeatedly all spring. Most of the typhoniums I grow have this same type of aroma, the exceptions being violifolium (which, by the way, is just too cute) and Sauromatum venosum (this is still being renamed, right?). S. venosum smells bad, but it just doesn't seem to be of the same magnitude. Steve +More -- Steve Marak -- samarak@arachne.uark.edu

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