Does This Giant Flower Bloom Once Every 40 Years As This Viral Post Suggests

The natural world of flora and fauna contain many amazing sights. The plant world is especially interesting because we generally associate trees as inanimate beings and yet find plants like the carnivorous Venus Flytraps among them. In the same way while we associate flowers to be small, delicate things, giant flowers as heavy as 15lbs exist in countries like Indonesia, growing to over 3 feet in width.

A photograph posted in a Facebook Group called Old photographs & Archaeology official group by an individual profile named John Az seemed to document yet another amazing flower. The post went viral with nearly 2000 likes and 1000 shares. The post’s claim said: The Amorphopallus Titanium blooms once every 40 years for 4 days and is one of the largest flowers in the world and can be seen below:

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We found it necessary to ascertain the authenticity of the flower in the image and the claims made alongside it.

FACT CHECK

We began by running the image through a Google Reverse Image Search that indicated the viral image had been posted in several other sites making the same claim that the giant flower in fact bloomed every 40 years. A small sample of the image search can be seen below:

A keyword search indicated that other images of the same flower were posted online with content saying the flower bloomed once in 40 years, similar to the original viral image. Some of those claims can be seen below:

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Since the claims in all the posts seemed similar, we looked to authentic scientific evidence to back up the claim by searching under the scientific name of the plant: Amorphophallus Titanum.

The Encyclopedia Britannica entry for the flower tells us that: Titan arum, (Amorphophallus titanum), also called corpse flower, herbaceous flowering plant of the arum family (Araceae), known for its massive foul-smelling inflorescence (cluster of flowers). The plant is endemic to the steep hillsides of rainforests in western Sumatra but is cultivated in botanic gardens worldwide. The unusual short-lived flower structure is the largest unbranched inflorescence of any plant and smells of rotting flesh. Usually taking 4–10 years or more between flowerings, a titan arum is often a major tourist attraction when in bloom.

We also notice that conservatoryofflowers.org has mentioned that while the first bloom of the flower might be 7-10 years the consequent blooms might occur in periods of 3 years or more.

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in NC State University mentions that “It takes at least seven years for the titan arum to bloom for the first time, and sometimes it can take even longer. The one in NC State University’s conservatory greenhouse took 13 years to bloom for the first time. Subsequent blooms often occur every three to seven years for the rest of the plant’s life.”

Below are some quick facts about the Amorphophallus titanum (Corpse Flower)

Furthermore, Chicago Botanic Garden’s quick facts about this plant state that the corpse flowers usually blooms at night and once they bloom, the bloom lasts 24 to 36 hours.

We checked the Guinness World Records and noticed Amorphophallus Titanum making multiple entries. The flower was listed as one of the largest single flowers in the world and is also the tallest.

Guinness World Records listed the flower as the smelliest plant stating “Also known as the corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanium or titan arum releases an extremely foul odor comparable to that of rotten flesh, which can be smelled 0.5 mi (0.8 km) away”

Below is a video published on National Geographic’s official YouTube channel on Amorphophallus titanium

CONCLUSION

Based on the evidence collected it is clear that Amorphophallus Titanum (Corpse Flower) is indeed one of the largest flowers in the world. However, the plant does not take 40 years to bloom. Bloom cycle is usually between 7 to 10 years, but there are instances where the first bloom has occurred after 13-15 years, although there is no record of a bloom in 40 years and the bloom lasts usually 24-36 hours.