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World's largest flower blooms at Disney's Animal Kingdom
Guests and Cast Members at Disney's Animal Kingdom from July 17-18 were treated with a very rare occurrence in the natural world.
A Titan Arum, the world's largest flower, bloomed near the pathway between Africa and Asia for three days before closing up for years.
"This is really significant in that it's a rare occurrence," said Jim Thompson, Disney's Animal Kingdom Horticulturist. "Fewer than 30 of these have flowered in the U.S. Even in Sumatra, where it was discovered, it's fairly rare for it to bloom."
"You never know when this will happen, but as soon as it exposed itself, it was growing four or five inches a day."
The flower can grow to as much as ten feet tall, and the leaf in which the flower emerges can grow to 20 feet tall and 15 feet in diameter. The Titan Arum at Disney's Animal Kingdom reached 61 inches on July 15.
"Because of its size, it's considered the largest non-branching inflorescence, which means that it's a stalk with many flowers," Jim said. "There are actually hundreds of flowers inside of it. The underground stem can weigh up to 170 pounds."
Once developed, the flower emits a foul odor resembling rotting flesh throughout its bloom period to attract pollinators, such as hornbills. When successfully pollinated, an infructescence develops, sporting up to 1,000 red, cherry-size berries, which in the wild, would be eaten and distributed by hornbills or insects.
"It's quite pungent," Jim said. "That's part of the message we're trying to convey to Guests here. The flower is there to attract a pollinator, not to look pretty on our lapel. They're there to attract a pollinator, and they'll use whatever means necessary to do that. If you're pollinated by an animal that lays its eggs in rotting flesh, you're going to try and mimic that as much as possible."
Because Disney's Horticulture team wanted to ensure the flower would be pollinated, Jim applied pollen acquired from a Titan Arum in Texas. Some Titan Arums will grow 20 years without flowering. Jim said no one knows what makes the flowers bloom at a certain time.
"We have three other Titan Arums located backstage," Jim said. "Melissa Shephard, one of our Gardeners, is taking care of them. We hope that these will bloom someday. When they do, we'll put them out on display so our Guests can experience it.
"Part of our goal at Disney's Animal Kingdom is diversity, in our case, diversity of the plant kingdom. We want to have as many different plants as possible to expose people to things they can't go to see in the wild."
World's largest flower blooms at Disney's Animal Kingdom
Guests and Cast Members at Disney's Animal Kingdom from July 17-18 were treated with a very rare occurrence in the natural world.
A Titan Arum, the world's largest flower, bloomed near the pathway between Africa and Asia for three days before closing up for years.
"This is really significant in that it's a rare occurrence," said Jim Thompson, Disney's Animal Kingdom Horticulturist. "Fewer than 30 of these have flowered in the U.S. Even in Sumatra, where it was discovered, it's fairly rare for it to bloom."
"You never know when this will happen, but as soon as it exposed itself, it was growing four or five inches a day."
The flower can grow to as much as ten feet tall, and the leaf in which the flower emerges can grow to 20 feet tall and 15 feet in diameter. The Titan Arum at Disney's Animal Kingdom reached 61 inches on July 15.
"Because of its size, it's considered the largest non-branching inflorescence, which means that it's a stalk with many flowers," Jim said. "There are actually hundreds of flowers inside of it. The underground stem can weigh up to 170 pounds."
Once developed, the flower emits a foul odor resembling rotting flesh throughout its bloom period to attract pollinators, such as hornbills. When successfully pollinated, an infructescence develops, sporting up to 1,000 red, cherry-size berries, which in the wild, would be eaten and distributed by hornbills or insects.
"It's quite pungent," Jim said. "That's part of the message we're trying to convey to Guests here. The flower is there to attract a pollinator, not to look pretty on our lapel. They're there to attract a pollinator, and they'll use whatever means necessary to do that. If you're pollinated by an animal that lays its eggs in rotting flesh, you're going to try and mimic that as much as possible."
Because Disney's Horticulture team wanted to ensure the flower would be pollinated, Jim applied pollen acquired from a Titan Arum in Texas. Some Titan Arums will grow 20 years without flowering. Jim said no one knows what makes the flowers bloom at a certain time.
"We have three other Titan Arums located backstage," Jim said. "Melissa Shephard, one of our Gardeners, is taking care of them. We hope that these will bloom someday. When they do, we'll put them out on display so our Guests can experience it.
"Part of our goal at Disney's Animal Kingdom is diversity, in our case, diversity of the plant kingdom. We want to have as many different plants as possible to expose people to things they can't go to see in the wild."
There is just so many surprises @ disney! 
