Blooming of the Titan Arum: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Botany, June 2001

High-resolution photos of UW-Madison's Titan Arum

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Caption: A rare corpse flower (Titan Arum) bears a column of red, cherry-sized fruits five months after blooming in the Botany greenhouse. The stinky 101-inch tall flowering plant bloomed June 7, 2001 and was pollinated by hand.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: Nov. 1, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: At 6 p.m. on June 7, 2001, the 101-inch tall Titan Arum or "corpse flower" in the UW-Madison Botany Greenhouse blooms. The flower gradually opened over the course of 6 hours.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: The Titan Arum at bloom through a fish-eye lens.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: The female flowers are visible at the bottom of the spadix, the light-colored column in the center of this photo of UW-Madison's titan arum.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
200 DPI JPEG version


Caption: This close-up photo looking through a hole cut in the spathe shows the male flowers (at very top) and female flowers (dark-colored, stem-like features below the male flowers). The light-colored material sitting in between the female flowers is fly larvae left behind by flies that had been attracted by the strong odor emitted by the titan arum.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: Paul Berry, director of the UW-Madison Herbarium, manually pollinates the Titan Arum after its spathe opened up on June 7. Berry cut a hole in the base of the spathe to access the female flowers, then used pollen shipped from a second Titan Arum in Florida.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: Paul Berry, director of the UW-Madison Herbarium, manually pollinates the Titan Arum or Corpse flower, a rare, malodorous 101-inch tall flowering plant which bloomed June 7 in the UW-Madison Botany Greenhouses. Berry used pollen shipped from a second Titan Arum in Florida.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: Paul Berry, director of the UW-Madison Herbarium, holds the pollen prior to applying it to the heads of the female flowers. The pollen was collected from a titan arum that just finished flowering at Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Fla.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: Botany professor Tom Sharkey, top, and graduate student Sean Weise, right, enclose the Titan Arum in a plastic tent in order to measure gas emissions.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
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Caption: Botany graduate students Sean Weise, top, and Yan Lu measure the temperature of the Titan Arum.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
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Caption: Herbarium director Paul Berry speaks to visitors as they crowd around the corpse flower (Titan Arum), a rare and malodorous flowering plant that blooms only two or three times during an average 40-year life span. The 101-inch tall flowering plant bloomed June 7 in the UW-Madison Botany Greenhouse.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: June 7, 2001
300 DPI JPEG version


Caption: A rare and malodorous flowering plant that blooms only two or three times during an average 40-year life span, the Titan Arum or "corpse flower" (center) is expected to bloom within the next week in the UW-Madison Botany Greenhouses.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: May 31, 2001
200 DPI JPEG version


Caption: Paul Berry, director of the UW-Madison Herbarium, stands next to a Titan Arum or "corpse flower." Currently just over seven feet tall, the plant is growing 6 inches daily.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: May 31, 2001
200 DPI JPEG version


Caption: Photo taken May 29, 2001.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: May 29, 2001
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Caption: Photo taken May 29, 2001.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: May 29, 2001
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Caption: Photo taken May 25, 2001.
Photo by: Jeff Miller.
Date: May 25, 2001
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Caption: Photo taken May 25, 2001.
Photo by: Jeff Miller.
Date: May 25, 2001
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Caption: Detail of the Titan Arum.
Photo by: Michael Rothbart.
Date: May 29, 2001
200 DPI JPEG version