Each year, the old leaf dies and a new one grows in its place. The leaf structure can reach up to 6 m (20 ft) tall and 5 m (16 ft) across.
The leaf grows on a somewhat green stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets. This usually prevents the flower from self-pollinating.Īfter the flower dies back, a single leaf, which reaches the size of a small tree, grows from the underground corm. The female flowers open first, then a day or two following, the male flowers open. īoth male and female flowers grow in the same inflorescence. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is roughly human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects. The inflorescence's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. The odor ("fragrance") of the titan arum resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. The upper ring bears the male flowers, the lower ring is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. Near the bottom of the spadix, hidden from view inside the sheath of the spathe, the spadix bears two rings of small flowers. The spadix is almost hollow and resembles a large baguette. In the case of the titan arum, the spathe is a deep green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, with a deeply furrowed texture. Like the related cuckoo pint and calla lily, it consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, which looks like a large petal. The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 m (10 ft) in height. Its height is 306 cm from the tuber, 274 cm from the surface of the soil titanum: This was in May 2003 the largest scientifically documented inflorescence of the titan arum, flowering in the Botanic Gardens of the University of Bonn (Germany).
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