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The Titan Arum - September 2004

In September 2004 the Titan Arum flowered for the first time in Cambridge. The giant flower which grew to 1.6 m tall and smells or rotting flesh only flowers for two nights before starting to die back.

The Garden welcomed over 10,000 visitors in the 5 days since the Titan Arum began to unfurl and release its famously noxious smell on the 2nd September 2004. On the night of the 2nd the Glasshouses stayed open till after midnight for the first time in the Garden's 155-year history and visitors queued for over two hours to get a glimpse and a whiff of this giant of the plant world in its peak condition. Jan Leaver, from Cambridge, was one of the late-night visitors:

" I wouldn't have missed it for anything, and the fact that one had to queue for ages gave the occasion a sense of specialness. Everyone was so very good-natured - so different from a queue on the M25!"

For those who could not come in person or were wary of the stench, the spectacular flowering was broadcast live via a webcam, which attracted over half a million hits. E-mailers from all over the world including the USA, Australia, St Kitts & Nevis and the Outer Hebrides, wrote to congratulate the Garden on making the event available to a global audience.

After the last visitor left late on the 2nd, Rob Brett, Glasshouse Supervisor, attempted to pollinate the flower with pollen couriered in from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. He said:

"We won't know for several weeks if the pollination was successful. The sad thing is that if we do get good fruit set, the original plant, which put on such a dramatic show for our visitors, will die as result of the monumental effort."

By the end of Monday 6th September 2004, the flower was in decline and the spike-like central spadix, which reached 165 cm, finally collapsed. The attempt to pollinate the plant failed and the plant collapsed completely on Tuesday 28th September 2004. This was probably due to the pollen being to old. It will mean the plant should put up a new leaf once it has had a period of dormancy and may produce another flower in year to come.

 (© Cambridge University Botanic Garden)

September 2004.
 (© Cambridge University Botanic Garden)

Our live webcam has been repositioned.

Titan - the Movie

Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cory Lodge, Bateman Street, Cambridge, CB2 1JF. Tel: +44 (0)1223 336265 Fax: +44 (0)1223 336278 Email: enquiries@botanic.cam.ac.uk