The Corpse Flowers of March
In late February, I spotted plump pink buds
pushing out of two Amorphophallus ‘Konjac’
tubers I stored in the sunroom last Halloween.
The flowers that arise from the tubers are
known for an odor likened to the aroma of
rotting flesh and the purple spathe that
encompasses them, likened to the color of
vinyl seat covers from a 1967 Plymouth
Barracuda. The tubers grow outdoors during
the hotter months, and I dig them up for storage
after the first killing freeze. I should say the
foliage stage of the plant grows during the
summer. It’s the fluorescent spathe and tiny
odiferous flowers that arise from naked tubers
in late winter or early spring. The big tuber
weighed in at 26 pounds when I dug him up;
in March 2008, it produced a seven-foot stinky
bloom for Easter when it weighed only
14 pounds.
Both tubers are in the west-facing bay window
of my living room, growing six to eight inches in
height daily. I’ll let them unfurl there and enjoy
their “purplessence” beauty, but when the stench
begins, both will be banished to the sealed sunroom,
as they were last year. On Easter Sunday, our guests
were treated to a gut-wrenching stench and the
biggest, purple Easter lily they’d ever seen. It looks
like the corpse flowers this year will bloom around
St. Patrick’s Day. Check back for updates and more
photos.
—Doreen Howard
beetles didn’t agree with Easter
dinner guests.
Photo: Doreen Howard
OMG! Those are awesome. I had only seen one in bloom previously and it was a lanky, curled, sick lookin' thing laying in someone's windowsill. Now I want one, perfume and all.
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You really don't want the perfume!! This year, with two 'Konjacs' that hit the ceiling, the stench was unreal. It grabs you by throat with shot of ammonia and then hits the respiratory system with the fetid stink of 10-day-old rotting skunks. The eyes water, you choke and can't breath. Pretty flower if you don't have live with it. That's why mine are behind a glass wall in the sunroom!
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