Slashdot Mirror
Wisconsin Corpse Plant To Bloom Again
V_IL_Len writes "The University of Wisconsin's original Amorphophallus titanum, or 'corpse plant' known as Big Bucky is ready to bloom and emit its intensely malodorous stench. The plant only blooms a few times in its 40 year life span and each bloom lasts only 2-3 days. Its stench attracts carrion beetles and flesh flies to pollinate it. See this link for photos and live stream of the bloom."
Unfortunately the best i can do at home is A. Paeonifolius
Software Freedom Day!.
No really, I got them de-clawed.
Does the "It's funny, laugh" category on this one have anything to do with Amorphophallus meaning "malformed penis"? Penis... hehehehehehehehe.
My first thought was "Some new and macabre kind of bio diesel production facility?"
Software Freedom Day!.
It also attracts Nerds...
I spent an inordinate amount of time watching that live stream last time this thing was blooming.
3AM drunk frat boys trying to compare "equipment" with the flower is something that is burned into my brain forever.
And I love it!
We have a plant conservatory here in Cincinnati that has one of these (or something like it). It bloomed a few years ago. It was awful.
- Violent Femmes :/ ) :)
- Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band
- Summerfest
- Willem Dafoe (spelling?)
- Apostle Island National Lakeshore
- lots of beer & cheese
- polka music
- Green Bay Packers
- Ben Sheets
- 1st NBA pick
- lake effect snow
- UW halloween party
- Milwaukee Art Museum
- more lakes than Minnesota
- Bodeans (you know.. the Friends theme?
- me
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
IMHO, corpse plant is the best argument against "intelligent design". :)
One of these just bloomed in SF - I wasn't able to make it, but apparently it was interesting (if you're into that sort of thing). Read about it here
There's always ebaya tegory=42207&item=4386828334 a tegory=20524&item=4387196761
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&c
Software Freedom Day!.
An Amorphophallus titanum named "Tabitha the Titan" bloomed last August at University of California, Davis. Two more, "Ted" & "Tammy," are expected to bloom again this summer. That's a whole lot of stink.
Good Scientist:
Change the scent to a fragrant one and make it bloom more often.
Evil Scientist:
Cross it with a venus flytrap and consume the passersby too stupid to watch it bloom.
Instead of a body count and a titilating expose into Britney's Spears choice of toothpaste, THIS is what SHOULD make news! Imagine how cool it would be if we lived in a country full of intelligent, interesting people who thought that this was real news. That professor explaining the situation was awesome!!
That thing is straight out of nightmares. Seriously, it scares the fuck out of me... I want one.
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
I don't think I geeky enough just yet to watch a live stream of a flower blooming. You may call me an insensitive clod now.
Am I the only one who thinks of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors ?
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
Geez. All the effort of hype and PR, and these State-employed lifers can't open the greenhouse on a Saturday.
Curator of the Jefferson Computer Museum http://www.threedee.com/jcm
somebody recently pointed out to me that 95% of the humor on the simpsons is not original, but simply a reference to something else, be it another TV show/movie, literature, history, or some sort of real-life phenomenon --- regardless of wether or not this is where the comedic value of the gag lies.
I'm saying this all with the highest respect, of course -- the scriptwriters for the simpsons are unbelievably intelligent compared to most. there are hidden references EVERYWHERE -- that I think takes skill.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
for Aroma over IP
Several universities across the country have many of these plants - the University of Washington has several, such that there's a bloom at least every year or two.
Virginia Tech has the same thing, and I'm sure many more do as well.
And the masses cried out, "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0!"
after blooming the plant says in a baritone male voice "feed me, seymour, feed me!" and then goes to broadway to do a song and dance number and eat a dentist
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Have I said too much?
KOA
Giant Missile Defense Radar Sails
Its stench attracts carrion beetles and flesh flies to pollinate it.
Is this a plant or a politician?
If there weren't so many damn idiots in this world, I'd just be average.
After seeing far too many posts asking why this is news considering their local arboretum has had one bloom, too, and not seeing it properly explained in the links, I thought I'd explain.
Big Bucky is special because it may very well set a new world's record for largest flower (inflorescence, actually). When it last bloomed in 2001, it fell just a few inches shy of the then record which had stood since 1932 (though the record now is held by a 2003 plant in Bonn) and as of a week ago was well on its way to challenging the record.
So while it is true that a few bloom in the U.S. every year now since botanists have found them to really draw a crowd (and donations), that doesn't mean this one isn't special. The bottom line is that my corpse plant can beat up your corpse plant. So there!
I saw a Titan Arum flower at the Sydney Botanic Gardens last year. The stench isn't what I'd describe as overpowering - it's actually a quite faint odour. I thought I reminiscent of old, dried-out roadkill.
The plant is quite weird. Even when not in flower, it looks strange - kindof fleshy and too symmetrical.
Once the flower opens, it fades very quickly, so you have to be quick.