Snake Lily
(click to enlarge)
Picture: Tom MacCubbin
Plants have lots of ways to get our attention. Some have
attractive flowers, some are large and some raise a big
stink. But when you really get down to the facts they
aren't trying to make you and me happy -- they have
another plan in mind.
A few months ago the Titan arum opened during the Epcot
International Flower and Garden Festival and raised a
big stink. Well, we have our own just about as smelly
but smaller version often called the snake lily that has
been in bloom in local gardens.
It seems like
all it needs is a little moisture to start the process
and if the plant has enough stored energy it's going to
put up a flower. Mine only flowers every other year. It
doesn't seem like a flower to many being brown in color
and close to the ground but it has all the right parts
to be a bloom plus it stinks.
Many refer to this plant as the amorphophallus which is
the genus for many such curiosities. As I mentioned this
plant has a plan. You might notice all the flies coming
in to visit. These are often flesh flies looking for a
meal on what they think is carrion. The plants hopes the
flies pick up some pollen and move it over to other
snake lily flowers to pollinate the blooms which results
in seeds and eventually more plants.
You might
call this flowering plant a curiosity and you can
tolerate the smell for a day or two. At this time the
blooms shrivel and if the flies have done their job a
seed stalk appears. Also very quickly a leaf stalk or
two shoots upward and produces a large frond often 4 to
6 feet tall.
If you want to give this plant a
try, bulbs are sometimes available at garden centers,
but are also often shared between friends.
