Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo’s Titan Arum, “Morticia,” is currently blooming, but “Wee Stinky” is already well on the path to creating wee “Wee Stinky” plants. Professor Karl J. Niklas, an evolutionary biologist in the Department of Plant Biology, visited the plant just yesterday and reports that the beautiful red fruits now seen on the spadix are full of growing seeds. The seeds will take approximately two more months to mature until it is possible to get them to germinate. The Department of Plant Biology is beginning to contact possible institutions who are interested in receiving plants or seeds.
Professor Karl J. Niklas, an evolutionary biologist in the Department of Plant Biology is collecting fruits from the Titan Arum to dissect and determine whether there are viable seeds and, if so, to determine their stage of development. Photo: Kathryn Coldren
Professor Rob Raguso, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, joins Professor Niklas in inspecting "Wee Stinky." Professor Raguso led the graduate student team that collected data on "stench emission." See entry below for the team's results.