Rare Botanical Phenomenon: Titan Arum Set to Bloom Imminently

Recorded nearly every day, it reached a height of 157 centimeters on June 16. Named Éros, this seven-year-old plant weighs 21 kilograms. It is a specimen of Amorphophallus titanum, also known as titan arum or “titan phallus.” This species produces one of the world’s largest flower structures, though it blooms very infrequently. The flowering, which lasts only about 72 hours, is expected to occur any day now at the Jean-Marie Pelt Botanical Garden in Nancy.

“Éros is our second Titan Arum to mature, following Tintin in 2023,” explained a spokesperson. “This giant was entrusted to us in 2018 by the Meise Botanical Garden in Belgium… Since then, our team has meticulously cared for it until it reached maturity and began this highly anticipated flowering process.” The inflorescence of the “titan phallus” (which consists of multiple flowers rather than a single one) is also notorious for its strong odor of decay, intended to attract its pollinator, a large beetle.

Originally from the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, this plant is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Its native habitat, the tropical forests, “has decreased by 47% between 1990 and 2010 due to land conversion for palm oil plantations or timber and paper plantations, as well as from logging and fires,” according to the IUCN.

The “titan phalluses” have also flowered in other major conservatories around the world in 2023.