Life cycle of the flower, a photo from Mazowieckie, East

Photographer's Note

What you see here is for me VERY special, as it is a great rarity, I assume that you have never seen it.
Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. It is endemic to Sumatra.
Due to its odor, like that of a rotting corpse, the titan arum is also known as the corpse flower or corpse plant. The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 metres in height. It consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, which looks like a large petal. The spathe is a deep green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, with a deeply furrowed texture. The inflorescence's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat.
In cultivation, the titan arum generally requires 7 to 10 years of vegetative growth before blooming for the first time. Some plants may not bloom again for another 7 to 10 years .The spathe generally begins to open between mid-afternoon and late evening and remains open all night. At this time, the female flowers are receptive to pollination. Although most spathes begin to wilt within twelve hours, some have been known to remain open for 24 to 48 hours.
The flowering titan arum is in Warsaw a great sensation. It happens for the first time in Poland. On Sunday, the queues to the glasshouse were very long – I had to wait more than 2,5 hours. The last people could enter only at 3 a.m.!
I observed it four times (I live not far from the Botanical Garden). Here the photos taken on Tuesday 8th, and then on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
I am afraid that someone will be disappointed.

There are two Workshops, and all better to see in the new tab.

ikeharel, holmertz, ChrisJ, pierrefonds, ricardomattos, ktanska, jean113, lucasgalodoido, COSTANTINO, jemaflor, Royaldevon, PaulVDV, macjake, foxy has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ikeharel (112521) 2021-06-16 0:54

Thought you left us, Malgo, good to see you are still posting.
Unique flower, for me anyway, and your sequential combined photos masterfully applied.
Excellent outcome on each pan.
Have a nice new day,
Ike

ifege (47069) 2021-06-16 1:18

Hi Malgo, almost a stranger - hope to see you more often again.
Now I have seen and smelt one of these in Sydney when one decided to flower a few years ago.
A great series of photos in both the collage and the WS.
Cheers
Ian

holmertz (102066) 2021-06-16 1:45

Hello Malgo,
This is quite interesting, even though flowers are not among my usual photo subjects. But this one is so special, and you arranged the photos cleverly into a quite spectacular series that is bound to catch people's attention. The name puzzled me, because I had only heard of the Rafflesia arnoldii as the famous stinking Indonesian flower. Checking the net I found that this one has bloomed three times in more than 80 years in a Botanical garden in Stockholm.
Kind regards,
Gert
PS I had my second vaccination this morning. In 2-3 weeks I can travel again - within Stockholm!

ChrisJ (171340) 2021-06-16 3:44

Hi Malgo

Great to see a new post from you! I remember seeing one of these somewhere in Sumatra, but I was either a few years too early or too late to see it in flower. I like the cinematography film strip style of presentation here. Good sharpness and colour. Tfs!

pierrefonds (113676) 2021-06-16 6:22

Hi Malgo,

You had a good idea to show the life cycle of the flower. The point of view is showing the details of the life cycle of the Titan Arum. The colors and the sharpness are very good. Your note is a complement to the photos, have a nice day.

Pierre

ricardomattos (17408) 2021-06-16 8:08

Oi Malgo

Fantбstica esta sйrie bem como os WS ( especialmente na vista larga) e ver vocк tambйm й muito aconchegante e com calor humano. Nunca ouvi falar desta flor. Ela й linda. Tambйm me faz refletir o quгo efкmera й tambйm a nossa vida. "...Seca-se a erva, e cai a sua flor, mas a palavra de nosso Deus permanece eternamente." Isaнas 40.8

Belo trabalho

Ricardo

ktanska (44492) 2021-06-16 10:08

Hi Malgo,
That is one very strange flower. You made a good choice of making this a series of shots on one upload. It gives a good idea of how the flower opens and finally rots away. Excellent note which was actually necessary on a subject that is strange to almost all of us.
Kari

Silvio1953 (220717) 2021-06-16 10:26

Ciao cara Malgo, fortunately the smell on the photos is not noticeable and we can enjoy the spectacle of the flowering of this fantastic flower without the smell of a corpse, very beautiful and interesting, thanks also for two beautiful WS, I see you in great shape even with the mask, three beautiful and exceptional photos, excellent details, beautiful sharpness and wonderful natural colors, brava, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

jean113 (27639) 2021-06-16 11:58

Hello Malgo, a very interesting series of pictures, they look wonderful in the enlarged version.
Visiting four times gave you the opportunity to make these excellent shots.
The night-time pictures with the overhead lighting has created an unusual effect.
Thank you for the detailed information.
Kind regards, Jean.

jmdias (114360) 2021-06-16 12:28

malgo

I knew about this famous flower many decades ago and I saw many images of it, but I never had seen a series like this where we can see the flower during the process of flowering. your portrait wasn't so nice because the focus was in the flower, not in you. haha, but we could see better the flower there. excellent and surprising view, I never though you had one in your city.

take care

jorge

pajaran (115025) 2021-06-16 13:04

Pozdrav.

Lepi pogledi, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad sa vise fotografija, lepo pokazani cvetovi, lepe boje i kontrast.
Lepa fotografija u radionici.
Lepi cvetovi.
Dobro propraceno cetanje.

Zelim vam lepu i mirnu noc, sve najbolje
Paja

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2021-06-16 17:31

Olб Malgorzata,
bem interessante mesmo essa sequencia de imagens, assim como a raridade da planta e da sua florescкncia. Belo registro, assim como as do WS.
Parabйns e Abraзo,
Lucas

abmdsudi (95869) 2021-06-16 22:04

Hi Malgorzata
Informative and visually appealing collage of the life cycle of a flower. Great idea, & well created with lovely clarity & colours! and tfs
Best regards

COSTANTINO (115605) 2021-06-16 22:41

hello dear friend Malgorzata...
I am so happy to meet you again
after a long long time!!!
please come back to our TE company
with your beautiful photos
we need your presence in this sight...
thanks for the sharing...
I like your inspiration
and generally the way
you give us your thoughts
it is very special for you
I understand...
regards
Costantino

jemaflor (146382) 2021-06-16 23:15

Hi Malgo,
Great job and photogenic presentation, almost like a very slow motion film ... interesting and well managed, good presentation, perfect quality for the rendering, glad to see your new photos on TE. Good Ws with your decorated mask. tfs.

vjmite (6526) 2021-06-17 4:54

Hi Malgo,

A great presentation of the stages of development of the biggest flower in the world. We see well how the spathe unfurls. Excellent sharpness and exposure. It's a good thing you were wearing a mask, it would help block the unpleasant smell. I assume you don't like the smell of rotting meat!

Vince

Royaldevon (85674) 2021-06-17 8:42

Hello Malgo,

I am surprised at how well you have been able to record the progress of this smelly plant! Like a true botanist!

I have never seen it it personally but have seen a programme about it filmed from Kew Gardens in London. For me, the smell would not be offensive ... I have no sense of smell!!!

Well done, a very interesting and informative posting,
Bev :-)

PaulVDV (62810) 2021-06-18 12:05

Hello Malgo,
I've read about this flower before but never seen one.
This is a very nice report of the flower.
Wonderful collage!
Since you've been checking so many times, I hope the smell didn't linger in your clothes.
Best regards, Paul

lousat (138683) 2021-06-20 2:03

Ciao Malgo,this is a really big scoop, you were lucky to witness the giant Arum bloom, a rare plant as rare as the bloom event! A great collage made in different days, obviously I have never seen it even if I have often read about the terrible smell it gives off, congratulations for the elegant mask in the WS! Have a nice Sunday and thanks,Luciano

macjake (98262) 2021-06-21 23:22

Hi Malgo
great to see you posting a new photo :)
we had this flower in Vancouver about 3 or 4 years ago and I didn't get the chance to go! Now i'm really upset that I didn't see it in person. But great for you to see it. How was the smell? wonderful collection of shots, and I admire your determination to go so many times to see it bloom. excellent TE post
cheers
Craig

kasianowak (17672) 2021-06-27 8:58

Wspaniala kolekcja zdjec i swietnie wybrana seria, ujecia przechodza jedno w drugie zupelnie naturalnie. Jedno ze zdjec w WS widzialam juz na Instagramie, i od razu pomyslalam sobie, ze ze wzgledu na zapach moze i dobrze, ze maseczki sa obowiazkowe! :-D Fajnie, ze bylo otwarte w nocy, dzieki temu wiecej ludzi moglo ten dziw przyrody obejrzec, no i jest to tez okazja do innych niz w dzien zdjec.
Widzialam tego kwiatka w Kew Gardens jakies 20 lat temu. Niestety, mam tylko jakies beznadziejne zdjecia na negatywie, ktory juz chyba dawno wyblakl.

foxy (3447) 2021-07-10 12:43

Hello MALgo,
I would love to see it in real, for sure. Definitely not for the smell :-( but the face-covering is quite handy for this :-)
You've done a good job showing us in this way as you put it - Life cycle of the flower. It's very special for me too to see this rare flower in photos. From the birth to death. Even better when I open it in full screen ( new tab ). INCREDIBLE !!!!
I've to treasure the moment. I think this is my first favourite picture I give I think. As you said, it's a great rarity.
Loong