One of the world’s largest and oldest flowers bloomed in Ohio yesterday: the extremely rare Titan Arum flower. The flowering plant, grown by the Biosciences Conservatory at Ohio University, is endemic to the rainforests of Sumatra, where it was first discovered in 1878. Today, it has the odd name of “mortal flower.” ‘ because of the terrible stench, like rotting flesh. Wednesday’s achievement is part of an ongoing effort to save the rare flower, led in part by molecular geneticist Joan Leonard, who planted the seeds for the now 49-pound flower. since 2001. Worldwide, this species has bloomed less than 150 times since its discovery more than 100 years ago, says Sandi Rutkowski, chief information officer at OSU’s School of Arts and Sciences. Because of the population explosion, the habitat of the corpse flower has decreased. About 70-fifths of a cubic meter of endemic habitat in the Sumatran rainforest has been destroyed, Leonard said.
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On Wednesday, Ьапɡ Ohio’s greenhouse became one of the few places to have successfully bloomed a rare, timid flower. To save the species, conservationists must make the plant’s rotten flower bloom, as that is the only way botanists can obtain and share pollen and seeds for propagation, Rutkowski said. speak. “The Sumatran archipelago has a booming population, so to feed the population, they are clearing the Titan Arum’s habitat. Its habitat will disappear quickly, and it only grows in one part of the world. The only way to save it is for plant biologists and conservationists to protect it. That’s why botanists and environmentalists around the world are trying to grow it,” she said.
Although yesterday’s bloom has closed, many more flowers will bloom soon, according to Ms. Leonard. “The bloom is over, we collected its pollen yesterday, and we will use that pollen to pollinate the next bloom. Today we have a second bud, and it will bloom in 10 days.” The IUCN classifies this flower as “vulnerable”, meaning only one level below endangered.