From: Brian O'Brien <bobrien at gustavus.edu> on 2010.09.14 at 16:14:37(21460)
Hello All,
Our Amorphophallus titanum (Hyperion, nicknamed Perry) that
bloomed this past July has surprised us by forming fruits. I
thought that self-pollination was not supposed to occur spontaneously in
these plants since the female and male flowers are fertile at different
times, but it appears that there was some overlap of the two this
time. Has anyone else observed this for titanum, either with
indoor cultivated plants or in isolated plants that are growing outside
(cultivated or wild)?
Perry first bloomed in May 2007, and fertilization did not happen.
This time, with the July flowering, the season was advanced enough here
for houseflies to be present, and Perry attracted huge numbers of
them. The flies even laid prodigious quantities of eggs in the
inflorescence, leading to maggots and to enhanced entertainment value for
visitors. It seems likely that the flies were also the pollinators
(at least that's my working hypothesis).
Another thing that I don't know at this point is whether or not the
berries will actually produce seeds. If they do, we should
have a few hundred seeds at some point.
Are there any special care techniques that should be applied to the plant
while it's maturing fruit?
Here's a blog post that I made yesterday, along with some photos:
http://arboretum.blog.gustavus.edu/2010/09/13/perrys-berries-the-corpse-flowers-fabulous-fly-blown-fecundity/
Here are some photos on Flickr, including a close-up that's not on
the blog site (there are also several other photos from the flowering
event):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aeranthes/sets/72157624212801295/
Here are Philip Patton's (Chlorophil7) photos from Perry's flowering
on Flickr (some scrolling down is necessary):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21272638@N06/
Any commentary on these topics will be welcome.
Thanks,
Brian
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