Earlier this year, the Denver Botanical Garden pointed a web camera at the corpse flower growing in their greenhouse. The live stream captured the massive flower as it opened, revealing its petal and, fortunately for web viewers, not its, uh, peculiar scent (more on that later). Why all the fuss? The seemingly simple act of a corpse flower blooming can take up to 20 years. Here are some other plants that can take a long, long time to flower.
Queen of the Night
(Peniocereus greggii)
For 364 days of the year this member of the cactus family, found in areas of western Texas down to southern Arizona, resembles a dead bush. But for one night in the middle of summer it opens with trumpet-shaped, creamy-white flowers up to 8 inches wide.
The smell emanating from the corpse flower has been described as resembling that of rotting meat. Fitting, as the scent attracts the carrion beetle, which is the plant's primary pollinator. The flower, native to the rainforests of central Sumatra, blooms once every 8 to 20 years, but when it does it opens up to 5 feet wide, or more, with a single dark-purple petal under a tall central stalk.
Kurinji
(Strobilanthes kunthiana)
When the kurinji shrub, native to southern India, blooms, it turns large swaths of hillside bluish purple. That happens about once every 12 years because the plant synchronizes its reproductive phase as a survival mechanism, flooding the area with new plants in order to outnumber predators, such as wildebeests.
Talipot Palm
(Corypha umbraculifera)
The beautiful show of 16-foot-tall flowers that rise above the talipot comes at a steep price. The tropical palm, found in Sri Lanka and India, can live up to 75 years, but it flowers just once in that time, and then dies. The sturdy leaves are used for fans or to make thatch roofing.
Queen of the Andes
(Puya raimondii)
Every 80 to 100 years, this Queen, found in Peru and Bolivia, puts on a show with a flower spike that reaches up to 30 feet high. The plant's stalk is actually made up of 30,000 individual smaller flowers, and, like most members of the bromeliad family, which also includes pineapples, Queen of the Andes dies after flowering.
Sheep Eater
(Puya chilensis)
Native to Chile, this thorny plant snares sheep and birds that get too close. The animals die from lack of food and eventually decay at the base of the plant, becoming natural fertilizer. The 10-foot-tall plant can take up to 11 years to bloom, when its top fills with dozens of green-yellow flowers.
Giant Himalayan Lily
(Cardiocrinum giganteum)
Massive white-and-purple trumpet-shaped flowers appear from the 10-foot-tall plant after about seven years. When not in bloom, the lily, which grows in the Himalayas, is a mass of glossy green leaves. The parent plant dies after flowering but leaves behind several smaller bulbs.
Century Plant
(Agave americana)
Despite the name, century plant typically blooms sometime between year 10 and year 25. The succulent, native to Mexico, forms a rosette that can reach 10 feet wide, made up of thick, gray-green leaves tipped with spines. A single flower stalk grows from the base, reaching 30 feet high and blooming with greenish-yellow flowers before the plant dies.
Its name is Anthurium and is often called the world's longest blooming plant. Each heart-shaped flower spike can last up to eight weeks. The largest genus of the Arum family, Anthurium andraeanum is commonly known as Tail Flower (the Greek word for tail flower), Flamingo Flower, Painter's Palette or Laceleaf.
The Corpse flower has the largest unbranched flowering structure in the world and can grow over nine feet tall. The plant takes a minimum of seven years to produce its first bloom. A bloom lasts only about 48 hours. When in bloom, the flower gives off a putrid odor of rotting flesh.
The Agave normally has long, fleshy and spiky leaves and can take between 20 and 40 years to produce a tall flower stalk that blossoms with a number of small flowers.
It's also known as a century plant because it only blooms once every 100 years (roughly) and then dies. But, because Raleigh gets more rain than the plant's usual home in the high elevations of Northern Mexico, the Century Plant is blooming after only thirty years.
Exotic species are organisms that are introduced to a region or ecosystem , often unintentionally, through human migration or trade. Some exotic species are useful to man, such as horses, goats, pigs, and edible plants including wheat and oats.
The mimosa pudica is one of the coolest plants because of the property of its leaves. It is also known as a sensitive plant or action plant because the compound leaves fold inward when you touch them. This plant can be grown indoors or outdoors as a ground cover. It needs bright light and warm climates to grow well.
The stages that plants go through are from seed to sprout, then through vegetative, budding, flowering, and ripening stages. Similarly, the nutritional needs of people and plants change as they grow.
An unforgettable phenomenon among all this splendour is the mass blooming of the Karvi flower. This occasion is in some places also called mel, Marathi for 'together', in recognition of the unique and synchronised way in which the Karvi flowers all bloom.
Marigold plant is one of the easiest flower plants to grow at home. You can grow Marigold flower in pots as well as directly on land. Marigold flower seeds take about 15 to 20 days to germinate.
Crossandra. When we talk about 12 months blooming flowers in India, one can not leave the South Indian beauty known as Crossandra. These fierce-looking flowers also go by the name of firecracker flowers as they grow in bright colors such as red and yellow.
The super-rare corpse flower, also known as the titan arum plant, is showing signs of blooming. It's extra special because the bloom typically lasts about 24 hours, and it only happens every few years.
Rose. The classic rose is one of the most common flowers to grow all year round in India. The climate of India is so suitable for this flower that there are no special efforts needed to grow roses.
A Chinese bamboo tree takes five years to grow. It has to be watered and fertilized in the ground where it has been planted every day. It doesn't break through the ground for five years. After five years, once it breaks through the ground, it will grow 90 feet tall in five weeks!
The flower, native to the rainforests of central Sumatra, blooms once every 8 to 20 years, but when it does it opens up to 5 feet wide, or more, with a single dark-purple petal under a tall central stalk.
This grandiose beauty, called the Amorphophallus titanum, owns the title of the largest flower in the world. Blooming once every 40 years for only 4 days, it proves to be an absolutely rare and stunning sight. Worldwide, only 3-5 blooming events, from plants grown in cultivation, happen each year; amazing!
The Corpse Flower or Titan Arum is native to the rainforests of western Sumatra, Indonesia where it grows on limestone hills at low elevations, in forest openings where there is enough light and space to produce its massive leaf and inflorescence or flower-bearing structure.
For example, many Agaves typically bloom every 8 to 20 years. The plant produces a single flower stalk 10 feet tall during the spring or summer and then dies.
An exotic plant is one that is not native to our area, but which may survive and reproduce here, displacing native species and altering natural systems.
The Middlemist's Red camellia is considered the rarest flower in the world. Only two known examples are believed to exist, one in New Zealand and another one in England.
Which is the rarest flower in the world? The Middlemist Red is the rarest flower in the world. What is the most unique flower in the world? There are many unique flowers in the world such as Juliet Rose, Ghost Orchid, Middlemist Red and Youtan Poluo.
Tropica Hibiscus or Hibiscus rosa senensis are attractive tropical shrubs that have perhaps the largest variation of bloom colors as any species; there are literally thousands, with new hybrids constantly being introduced. Among the most popular ones are those classed as Exotics or Fancy Hibiscus.
A study by garden expert David Domoney found that people overwhelmingly favored Lily of the Valley as a mood-boosting plant, mostly because they associated the fragrant blooms with happy memories.
Red-edged dracaena. Studies show that all plants provide mental health benefits. Constantly seeing and being around plants help us feel more calm and relaxed, thus decreasing levels of anxiety.
Massive white-and-purple trumpet-shaped flowers appear from the 10-foot-tall plant after about seven years. When not in bloom, the lily, which grows in the Himalayas, is a mass of glossy green leaves. The parent plant dies after flowering but leaves behind several smaller bulbs.
The blooming of Trudy the corpse flower, a Sumatran plant officially called Amorphophallus titanum or titan arum, is such an unusual event that the garden puts on free shuttle buses, and visitors flock there to see it in their thousands.
Examples of biennial plants are members of the onion family including leek, some members of the cabbage family, common mullein, parsley, fennel, Lunaria, silverbeet, black-eyed Susan, sweet William, colic weed, carrot, and some hollyhocks.
Mr. Smarty Plants has found the Himalayn lily (Cardiocrinum giganteum) that flowers after seven years of growth. Here are photos of the Himalayan lily. After it blooms the plant dies.
This grandiose beauty, called the Amorphophallus titanum, owns the title of the largest flower in the world. Blooming once every 40 years for only 4 days, it proves to be an absolutely rare and stunning sight.
Marigold plant is one of the easiest flower plants to grow at home. You can grow Marigold flower in pots as well as directly on land. Marigold flower seeds take about 15 to 20 days to germinate.
Biennial plants grow leaves, stems and roots the first year, then go dormant for the winter. In the second year the plant will flower and produce seeds before dying. Biennials are usually sold with perennials and include sweet william, foxglove, money plant and hollyhock.
Introduction: My name is Kelle Weber, I am a magnificent, enchanting, fair, joyous, light, determined, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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