Carrion flowers include several different species and while some may be pretty, they emit the stench of rotting flesh. Carrion flowers attract fecal and flesh eating insects. The flowers belong to a number of different plant families and include some of the strangest and biggest flowers found on Earth.
The word carrion refers to the rotting flesh of dead animals and carrion insects feed on such rotting flesh, as well as feces and other decaying matter. These insects also lay their eggs in foul smelling, damp places.
Carrion flowers deceive carrion insects and lure them into their blossoms where the flowers become pollinated. The insects and any maggots that hatch from eggs wind up dying due to a lack of food. Typically flowers that are pollinated by insects reward their pollinators with nectar but this is not the case with carrion flowers. The overpowering smell that is emitted from carrion flowers is normally caused by putrescine and cadaverine which are simple amine compounds.
The same compounds are also produced during the decomposition of rotting protein. There are many different species of carrion flowers but some of the more well known species include starfish flowers, arums, and the stinking corpse lily.
Carrion flowers are some of the most fascinating plant species in the world. People will come for miles to see an Amorphophallus bloom. The Amorphophallus flowers, also known as Titan arum, can grow seven feet high with leaves spreading 12 feet, and weighing pounds.
It is the largest unbranched inflorescence, meaning its flowers cluster, in the world. The largest ever recorded weighed pounds. In order to flower, giant corpse flowers must be at least 7 to 10 years old and produce a tuber, which stores nutrients allowing the plant to grow, that weighs more than 20 pounds, according to Snyder. But some can take 15 years or more to bloom. A second, smaller flower is about 42 inches, but has added more than 10 inches in the last five days.
Both were grown from seeds at Ohio State starting in , and donated to Temple in Most years only a dozen or fewer bloom worldwide. Last year, Longwood Gardens announced that its corpse flower had bloomed from July 13 to It was affectionately named Sprout. The species goes through periods of dormancy and growth, and every four to five years a bloom forms instead of a leaf. The fact that very few specimens exist today makes it difficult to maintain the genetic variety needed to grow a healthy corpse flower plant.
The lack of genetic variety leads to inbreeding, which means closely related plants are bred with one another. According to the New York Times, the Chicago Botanic Garden launched an initiative to conserve the corpse flower by increasing genetic diversity.
It does this by applying the same principles adopted at zoos to conserve animals that are close to extinction. The aim is to create a studbook or database with all pedigrees of the rare plant, and to identify genetic factors that could impact its future. Based on the collected plant material, they will be able to identify the ideal match for breeding as well as underrepresented genetic traits.
The seeds of the plant, known as recalcitrant seeds, are not easy to store either. Drying and freezing — the main methods to store seeds — will kill them. Click here to join our channel indianexpress and stay updated with the latest headlines. Rahel Philipose Rahel Philipose writes for the indianexpress. Coronavirus Explained.
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