Bangkai Flower As High As 3.4 Meters Blooms Perfectly In Cibodas Botanical Gardens

The corpse flower as high as 3.4 meters blooms in the Cibodas Botanical Garden located in Cianjur Regency, West Java Province, Sunday (26/5/2024) (doc BRIN)

JAKARTA - A three-decade-old corpse flower with collection number 28, perfect 3.4-meter bloom at the Cibodas Botanical Gardens in Cianjur Regency, West Java Province.

Researcher for the Young Biosystematics Research Center and BRIN Evolution, Destri said the giant flower named Latin Amorphophallus titanum bloomed the seventh time after it first bloomed in 2003. "The flower flower that is currently blooming begins to be observed on February 28, 2024. The flower blooms perfectly right on Saturday, May 25 at 22.03 WIB with a spadic height of 340 centimeters and a spatha width of 159 centimeters," said Destri in a statement, Sunday, May 26.

The plant's parent was collected by the former Head of the Cibodas Botanical Gardens Subekti Purwantoro and his friends in 2000 from the Manau River, Batang Hakiti, Kerinci Seblat National Park Area, West Sumatra. The carcass flower first bloomed in 2003 with a flower height of 2.7 meters. Then, in 2007, the flower bloomed again with a height of 3.17 meters, in 2011 it reached 3.2 meters, in 2016 it reached 3.735 meters, in 2017 it reached 3.4 meters, and in 2020 it reached 3.52 meters. "The flower plant of the corpse that blooms is currently estimated to be 35 years old," said Destri. When flowering in 2016 was as high as 3.73 meters and immediately flowered again in 2017 as high as 3.4 meters without any vegetation phase. The industry said that the flowering phase that took place in 2016 and 2017 affected the food reserves in the tubers, because once flowering requires great energy.

The plant takes time to supply energy reserves in the tub. Until one day it can return to the same conditions as 2016 or maybe more, "he explained. The industry explains that if later there is a period when the corpse flower plant is in phase or phenomenon, where when food reserves are collected very much, it will flower with a height that is more than usual. Plants that have a towering flower shape with tuna or spadics surrounded by flower shades or spatha which when blooming in red is the endemic plant of Sumatra Island. Carrion flowers besides having a distinctive aroma such as the smell of carrion also have the largest flower in the world or are referred to as the giant inflorescent in the world. The plant has a flowering period of four years once with three growth phases, namely the vegetative (leaved), generative (flowered) phase, and the Dorman phase (rest).

When the corpse flower plant blooms, visitors can only enjoy it for three to five days. This is what attracts the public's attention to see it. Based on an assessment from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), corpse flowers are classified as endangered species, so they must be protected by the existence of the plant.