The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-08-24
A FAIRY FLOWER.

In 1873, while travelling in western
! Sumatra, DR.. Beccari discovered re-
markable plant, the Amorphophallus
| Titanum, some of the seed OF which he
sent TO friend at Florence. lie had a
tuber OF the AmOrphOphalus Titanum
| dug up for conveyance TO Europe, but
as 1t was too heavy for the TWO men he
had carrying tit was nearly five feet
in circumterence-it got a fall and was
broken to pieces. The seeds, which
were an inch and a half long, Jared
! nearly as badly. They were planted
by the Marchese COsse- Salyiati, and
some seedlings were obtained, but none
of them lived except the one she pre-
scntcd in 1879 to the Kew Gardens.
This one. however, still survives and
ilourishes 10 the glory of the discOverer
and the enlargement of botanical sci
cnCc. Ii soon demonstrated its right
to the name Titan. Every year it
demanded larger and larger pot in
the great tank, and became an object
of pilgrimage to the learned. 1t had
single leaf, but that was 45 feet in
circumference. The leaf stalk was ten
feet long, and the VEINS or ribs of the
leaf where they parted from the stalk
were as thick as mans thigh and near
ly tour yards long. Its development was
full OF surprises, but savants waited tor
the Towering, and this year they have
had the reward of their sustained atten-
ton. In March last it was repotted
as usual and measured. Its dimensions
were: circumference, 4 feet 8 inches;
diameter, l loot inches; depth, 10
inches; weight, 81 pounds. Its parent
was larger, but it is to be borne in
mind that the new specimen is but in
its infancy. Early in May the flower
bud began to swell out but the leaf
made no sign. The monster cannot, it
appears, afford TO put out foliage and
flower the same year. In the first
week or SO the flower grew an
inch a day, then two inches; then three
inches, until i'll the second week in
June it rose and swelled almost visiblY.
The excitement at Kew at this time is
described by the London Saturday
Review as intense. AS large as one of
those buds that open in the spectacular
drama at a critical moment to disclose
beautiful young lady, everybody was
anxious TO see what the flower of the
AmorphOphallus Titanum would pro-
duce when il opened its petals. Lon
don sent down its daily contingent of
interested spectators. Nobody could
tell when flower that grew SO fast
would open, bnt it was certain that,
once open, it would last but few
hours. AT last, on June %, the large
object began to uncurl, to stretch itself,
to show its deep maroon lining and to
spread its great toothed rim. There
was no question now that the wer
was majcstically beautiful-as beautiful
as single flower of its vast bulk could
well be. The stature of the giant
from head to loot was six feet nine
inches. "The spathe," says the Re-
| view, ''was three feet deep and four
leet across; the spadiX five feet long,
ten inches in diameter at the base,
narrowing to blunt point, greenish in
the early stages, turning to drab as it
grew older. A grand piece of color
was the bell-like spathe for those who
had courage 10 look down into it
maroon purple, as has been said,
tinged with violet, velvet-like sheen,
indescribably beautiful. This lining
had a superb effect, pouring over the
edges, greenish- white. boldly tOothed
and crumped. Amorphophallus Ii
| tanum would be rage, a frenzy,
among amateurs who can undertake
! plants of that scale were II not for the
the perfume. For the direst prog
nostics were fulfilled AS the true
! flowers expanded - little points, the
size OF pins heads, to which all that
magniiieence was mere shield and ap-
| pendage - the Victoria house filed
within fact, a stink such as all the
fish condemned at Billingsgate on a
summer day raise al noon on the NOR
row. The director himself, men whis-
per, sped through the house with
winged feet. He was overwhelmed
with jov or something The vile odor
is useful, it is supposed, for protection
to the plant and for survival. Every
fly III the place gathered about the
/ spadiX instantly tertilizing its tiny
! blooms. Besides attracting flies. the
smell repeis, it is believed, the animals
that would devour the bud and tuber
| if not checked by some means. DIR.
| Beccari has made more than one dis
covery. Some years ago he sent home
from Borneo the most gigantic of
orchids, the Bulbophyllum Beccari,
| which lowered at Kew, for the first
time in Europe, in 1881. 1t, too,
had an odor. "lt emits," says
the Review, Gas all sorts and con-
ditions of men agree, the very foulest
odor known to the upper world, and
the strongest. An artist of determined
| character was employed TO sketch it
for the Botanical Magazine. He car
ried out his contract, but he tainted"