Corpse flower is haunting sight at CSUF greenhouse

From The Daily Titan: Halloween is just around the corner, which means the creepy and the dead are popping up out of the Earth—literally.

Amorphophallus titanum, more commonly and affectionately known as the “Corpse Flower,” is a plant that blossoms only once every few years, and when it does, it brings a stench to match the Halloween season.

The intrigue surrounding the strange flower is about more than just the reek. Generally, this tropical plant goes through a slow growth process; it spends years as a long, leafy green stem that will grow tall, without flowering.

Perhaps most interesting of all, it blooms every three or four years and does not stay open for very long.

Edward Read, the manager of the Cal State Fullerton Biology Greenhouse Complex, explained the process.

“Each year, it puts out one leaf, until the corn gets to a big enough size to flower. When it does, it will make a big inflorescent that lasts a month or two. When it opens, it only lasts like two to three nights,” said Read.

There are several leafy plants currently housed in the greenhouses (located behind the water towers across from Clayes Performing Arts Center). The Arboretum also had two Corpse Flowers given to them from the greenhouses. One of these, named Tiffy, last bloomed in 2006.

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