Published Monday, May 14, 2001
`MR. STINKY' SET TO BLOOM
Fans hold breath -- and noses -- as plant prepares to open again
BY LILA ARZUA, larzua@herald.com
On Sunday morning, ``Mr. Stinky'' measured six feet, six inches and was still growing. No stench was discernible, but it will be soon enough.
The celebrity plant at Fairchild Tropical Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd., is expected to open between Tuesday and Thursday. When it does, it will be the first time the same Titan Arum has bloomed twice in the United States. Titan Arums in cultivation generally bloom only once -- if ever.
As she strode into the conservatory and saw the giant, Germaine Tilney stopped dead in her tracks.
``My God, it did it again!'' said Tilney, who teaches at Florida International University and visits the garden every Sunday.
She and other visitors have vivid memories of the last blossoms, which emit an odor described in the plant's native Sumatra as akin to a rotting elephant corpse. Mr. Stinky last stank in 1998, and seedling mate Alice did so in 1999.
The smell of decay, intended to attract the carrion beetles that pollinate the plant, is so convincing that previous blooms have attracted scores of flies and even a few buzzards. About every 15 minutes, the plant will emit a new wave of odor as a recurring chemical reaction heats its oil glands, working in a fashion similar to a plug-in air freshener.
But on Sunday, what will be a resplendent, if repulsive, red blossom was not yet in view. Mr. Stinky's spathe, a single ruffled leaf, remained wrapped tightly around the immense central spadix that gives the Amorphophallus titanum -- ``shapeless phallus'' -- its name.
``This is not the type of plant you would bring home to mother,'' said Annetta Schildbach of Cutler Ridge, who was visiting Fairchild Tropical Garden with her daughter.
The curiosity usually ends on the fourth day after its opening, but this year the show will end even earlier.
Conservatory manager Craig Allen plans to pollinate it within the first eight hours, which will prompt the blossom to close.
To do so, Allen will don his gas mask and apply the pollen -- rushed to Miami from a Titan that bloomed in Washington last week -- with a camel-hair brush.
When it ripens several months later, the plant will resemble a giant corn-on-the-cob, but with seeds as squishy as blueberries.
In fact, despite its gargantuan appearance, the plant is extremely delicate.
When the tuber hidden beneath the soil is repotted annually, it is placed on pillows, and any visible scratches are immediately treated with Neosporin to prevent rot.
Although it has gained 26 pounds in the past year, the tuber is expected to lose weight when it blossoms.
A large crowd is expected to be on hand to see Mr. Stinky blossom. Thousands went to see the last Titan. This year, visitors are coming from across the United States, and a group of contest winners from Holland will be coming to take a whiff.
As the big day approaches, Allen has been dreaming about the plant, and he soon might be dreaming with it. He plans to spend the night at the garden in case it opens in the evening.
Other aficionados can track the plant's growth -- about three inches a day -- on the Internet: the security camera focused on Mr. Stinky 24 hours a day is now also serving as a webcam and is updated about every 15 minutes during daylight hours.
Blair and Karen DuBois have been following the progress.
``You've called me Mr. Stinky before; I want to see the
competition,'' DuBois said to his wife, who volunteers at the
garden.
-- Anonymous, May 14, 2001
