A peculiar flower, Amorphophallus konjac

El Amorphophallus konjac, more popularly known as Corpse flower, belonging to the genus Arum, is a plant bulbous native to the rainforests of Sumatra, in Indonesia, where it lives under the shade of trees.

The plant has the bearing of a tree, with a single leaf with several divisions attached to the same stem, green. The trunk, which is actually a stem, herbaceous, thick, matte green in color, with small rounded spots of a somewhat lighter color.

Seed plants begin to flower at four to five years of age, and since then they usually flower every year. The flower, which can reach a meter or a maximum of one and a half meters in height, grows at about four inches a day, and smells of decomposing organic matter (hence its common name). It is said that the smell reaches about four kilometers away, which helps pollinators in the area know where there is a Amorphophallus, and the plant has the possibility of having offspring, and thus contribute to the species survival. Once the flower has fully developed, it lasts for three days.

El Amorphophallus konjac it is a medium-fast growing plant.

Unlike Amorphophallus titanum, Amorphophallus konjac it is enough easier to get in nurseries or garden centers.

The Amorphophallus they are plants of easy maintenance, being bulbous. We will plant them in a pot with black peat alone or with a little perlite, in the shade, and we will water three or four times a week. If we live in an area with a dry climate, we will give more importance to spraying, which will have to be done several times every day, than to watering.

Image – Kodo

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