At the Dunedin Botanic Gardens yesterday we visited the newly refurbished Winter Gardens and they’re looking fantastic. To our amazement we became re-acquainted with our old friend the Titan Arum (which flowered just in time for us to see the enormous flower before we moved away from Dunedin in 2018). We were checking out an unusual looking plant and when we saw the sign.. it was Amorphophallus titanum (Sumatra).
Dunedin, New Zealand; photos taken 07 Sept, 2019
Amorphophallus titanum, Dunedin
Titan Arum in its vegetative state. This is a single leaf blade that has developed into a complex array of leaflets.
First three photos by Nigel, last two photos by Liz.
If you’d like to see the flower of a Titan Arum in the Winter House, this occurred in February 2018 – you can see our photos at Titan Arum: Part Four
Text by Liz, photos by Nigel and Liz; Exploring Colour (2019)
Wow, what an extraordinary transformation! That splotchy bark is neat looking, too.
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We were drawn by the appearance of the plant and amazed to see via the label that it’s the Titan Arum. Hahaha.. it took us by surprise!
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I bet–I never would have expected it to look like that!
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Oh don’t we just love a good Botanic Garden! Glass, light and nature all at play to tickle our amusement. Such beauty
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Having been recently refurbished it was so uncluttered, light and clean, and the plants all looked lovely!
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I remember that plant! It looks like a very new plant now!
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The leaf form is very different to the flower form! The plant sends up a bud and it becomes either a leaf or a flower. If it grows into a leaf it lasts for 12-18 months. Then it dies down and has a rest for 6 months. When the bud sprouts again it might become a flower.. or it might become a leaf again! The Titan Arum takes at least 7-10 years to flower from seed (even under perfect conditions).
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Extraordinary plant!
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Have you seen one of these before?
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Not in ‘real life’, just on TV…thank goodness ‘smellivision’ doesn’t exist, hehe! I think there’s one in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, but that was after we’d moved away.
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If you get the chance to see a flower in ‘real life’ it’s well worth making the effort!
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And taking my camera… 🙂
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