#titanarum — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #titanarum, aggregated by home.social.
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Hundreds gather to smell a rare flower blooming in London.
Hundreds of visitors gathered at Kew Gardens in London to see the rare blooming of the titan arum, often called the “corpse flower” for its strong smell resembling rotting flesh.
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Titan arum tuber - eight years old #botany #titanarum #amorphophallus (Amorphophallus titanum)
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Meat-Stinking Giant Flower Has A Delectable Aroma For Pollinators
The Titan Arum, more commonly known as the ‘Corpse Flower’ is famous for its repulsive meat smell. Designed to repel humans, in contrast pollinators find the putrid aromas irresistible in the plant’s native environment. The Corpse Flower Titan Arum lives deep inside of Sumatra’s imperilled rainforests. endangered by palm oil and mining deforestation. Now researchers have gained greater insight into how the plant warms itself up before blooming – known as thermogenesis and have discovered a new compound called ‘putrescine’ which gives the plant its strong aroma. Help these rare stinking beauties to survive when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
The gigantic Titan Arum #plant better known as the ‘Corpse Flower’ stinks like rotting flesh. They live deep in #Sumatra’s #rainforest. Endangered by #palmoil #deforestation, learn how to protect them! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴👎🛢️⛔ @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9bK
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterCorpse #Flowers are unusual 🌸 as they emit heat before flowering. Scientists have found the smelly compound causing their aroma: ‘Putrescine’. They’re #endangered by #palmoil #deforestation. Take action! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🔥❌ @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9bK
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAlveena Zulfiqar, Beenish J Azhar, Samina N Shakeel, William Thives Santos, Theresa D Barry, Dana Ozimek, Kim DeLong, Ruthie Angelovici, Kathleen M Greenham, Craig A Schenck, G Eric Schaller. Molecular basis for thermogenesis and volatile production in the titan arum. PNAS Nexus, 2024; DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae492
The Titan Arum, more commonly known as the ‘Corpse Flower’, is famous for its repulsive meat smell. While designed to repel humans, this putrid aroma irresistibly attracts pollinators in its native environment—the imperilled rainforests of Sumatra, now under threat from palm oil plantations and mining activities. Researchers have recently uncovered how the plant generates heat before blooming, a process known as thermogenesis, and have identified a new compound called ‘putrescine’, which contributes to its potent stench.
A study led by G. Eric Schaller, Professor of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College, explored the genetic and biological mechanisms behind the Titan Arum’s remarkable heating and scent production. The research relied on tissue samples from ‘Morphy’, Dartmouth’s 21-year-old Corpse Flower, to analyse RNA sequences. This allowed scientists to pinpoint which genes are active during the phases of heating and scent release.
The Titan Arum is not a single flower but a cluster of tiny flowers hidden within a massive central stalk, known as the spadix, which can reach up to 12 feet in height. It blooms rarely—typically once every 5 to 7 years—and only for a brief period. “The blooms are rare and also short-lived, so we only get a small window to study these phenomena,” Schaller explains.
During blooming, the spadix heats up, raising its temperature by as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit above the surrounding air. This thermogenic phase coincides with the emission of its signature scent, a mixture of sulphur-based compounds designed to attract flies and carrion beetles, which play a vital role in the plant’s pollination.
The RNA analysis revealed that genes associated with alternative oxidases—plant equivalents of animal uncoupling proteins—are highly active during the heating phase, especially in the spadix’s appendix. Additionally, genes involved in sulphur transport and metabolism were expressed, driving the production of the odour. Among these compounds, researchers identified putrescine, an organic chemical not previously recognised as part of the Corpse Flower’s scent profile.
This research sheds light on the evolutionary adaptations of the Titan Arum while highlighting the urgent need to conserve its natural habitat. Protecting the rainforests of Sumatra from deforestation caused by palm oil cultivation and mining is critical for the survival of this extraordinary species. By choosing to #BoycottPalmOil and supporting campaigns such as #Boycott4Wildlife every time you shop, individuals can help safeguard the delicate ecosystems these rare flowers depend on, ensuring they continue to thrive for generations to come.
Meat-Stinking Giant Flower Has A Delectable Aroma For PollinatorsAlveena Zulfiqar, Beenish J Azhar, Samina N Shakeel, William Thives Santos, Theresa D Barry, Dana Ozimek, Kim DeLong, Ruthie Angelovici, Kathleen M Greenham, Craig A Schenck, G Eric Schaller. Molecular basis for thermogenesis and volatile production in the titan arum. PNAS Nexus, 2024; DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae492
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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
Global South America S.E. Asia India Africa West Papua & PNGWestern Parotia Parotia sefilata
Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque
Frill-Necked Lizard Chlamydosaurus kingii
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing
Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying Fake labels Indigenous Land-grabbing Human rights abuses Deforestation Human health hazardsA 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
Read moreTake Action in Five Ways
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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
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Pledge your support#biodiversity #Botany #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CorpseFlower #deforestation #endangered #EndangeredSpecies #flowers #Indonesia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #plant #plants #pollinator #rainforest #ReasonsToBeHopeful #Sumatra #TitanArum
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Four titan arum ‘corpse flowers’ to bloom in a week at Cairns Botanic Gardens https://www.allforgardening.com/1555266/four-titan-arum-corpse-flowers-to-bloom-in-a-week-at-cairns-botanic-gardens/ #AmorphophallusTitanum #CarrionFlower #CorpseFlower #FarNorthQueensland #FNQ #garden #gardening #gimuy #RareBotanicalWonders #StinkyPlant #TITANARUM #TropicalQueensland
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#TitanArum (#Amorphophallus titanum) is sprouting a new leaf. Eventually it’s going to be 3 m tall and need a pot that weighs a literal tonne, and by “eventually” I mean “in the next 5 years or so”.
And we have two of them 😬😬
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Could look more impressive, I know, but here is the ~half kilo corm of Number 1 of our #TitanArum plants (#Amorphophallus titanum) mid-repotting, while it is dormant and the leaf has died back. It’s only 5 years old and I have no idea what we’re going to do when it gets (even half) full size. Other photo is Number 2, who is still in leaf.
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An unexpected baby on the #TitanArum #Amorphophallus - now we have three 😬
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Dwindling tropical rainforests mean lost medicines yet to be discovered in their plants
About 80% of the world population relies on compounds derived from plants for medicines to treat various ailments, such as malaria and cancer, and to suppress pain. Our future medicines are likely to come from plants, but how effectively are we protecting these plants from extinction? We aren’t doing enough and we must do more!
#Medicine 💊 humans need for our future survival will likely come from #rainforests 🍃🌳 Yet we aren’t stopping #deforestation! Help forests and forest animals! Be #vegan 🥦🍆🥑 and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🪔☠️🔥🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/04/23/dwindling-tropical-rainforests-mean-lost-medicines-yet-to-be-discovered-in-their-plants/
Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter80% of the world’s population relies on #medicines 💊from #rainforests. As greedy companies destroy #Borneo, the #Congo and the #Amazon, the world edges ever closer to losing medicines forever! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴💀🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/04/23/dwindling-tropical-rainforests-mean-lost-medicines-yet-to-be-discovered-in-their-plants/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWritten by Walter Suza, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Walter Suza, Iowa State University
As fires continue to burn in the Amazon and land is cleared for agriculture, most of the concerns have focused on the drop in global oxygen production if swaths of the forests disappear. But I’m also worried about the loss of potential medicines that are plentiful in forests and have not yet been discovered. Plants and humans also share many genes, so it may be possible to test various medicines in plants, providing a new strategy for drug testing.
As a plant physiologist, I am interested in plant biodiversity because of the potential to develop more resilient and nutritious crops. I am also interested in plant biodiversity because of its contribution to human health. About 80% of the world population relies on compounds derived from plants for medicines to treat various ailments, such as malaria and cancer, and to suppress pain.
Future medicines may come from plants
One of the greatest challenges in fighting diseases is the emergence of drug resistance that renders treatment ineffective. Physicians have observed drug resistance in the fight against malaria, cancer, tuberculosis and fungal infections. It is likely that drug resistance will emerge with other diseases, forcing researchers to find new medicines.
Plants are a rich source of new and diverse compounds that may prove to have medicinal properties or serve as building blocks for new drugs. And, as tropical rainforests are the largest reservoir of diverse species of plants, preserving biodiversity in tropical forests is important to ensure the supply of medicines of the future.
Plants and new cholesterol-lowering medicines
The goal of my own research is to understand how plants control the production of biochemical compounds called sterols. Humans produce one sterol, called cholesterol, which has functions including formation of testosterone and progesterone – hormones essential for normal body function. By contrast, plants produce a diverse array of sterols, including sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and cholesterol. These sterols are used for plant growth and defense against stress but also serve as precursors to medicinal compounds such as those found in the Indian Ayurvedic medicinal plant, ashwagandha.
Humans produce cholesterol through a string of genes, and some of these genes produce proteins that are the target of medicines for treating high cholesterol. Plants also use this collection of genes to make their sterols. In fact, the sterol production systems in plants and humans are so similar that medicines used to treat high cholesterol in people also block sterol production in plant cells.
I am fascinated by the similarities between how humans and plants manufacture sterols, because identifying new medicines that block sterol production in plants might lead to medicines to treat high cholesterol in humans.
New medicines for chronic and pandemic diseases
An example of a gene with medical implications that is present in both plants and humans is NPC1, which controls the transport of cholesterol. However, the protein made by the NPC1 gene is also the doorway through which the Ebola virus infects cells. Since plants contain NPC1 genes, they represent potential systems for developing and testing new medicines to block Ebola.
This will involve identifying new chemical compounds that interfere with plant NPC1. This can be done by extracting chemical compounds from plants and testing whether they can effectively prevent the Ebola virus from infecting cells.
There are many conditions that might benefit from plant research, including high cholesterol, cancer and even infectious diseases such as Ebola, all of which have significant global impact. To treat high cholesterol, medicines called statins are used. Statins may also help to fight cancer. However, not all patients tolerate statins, which means that alternative therapies must be developed.
Villagers take a break during a meeting of Tembé tribes at the Tekohaw indigenous reserve, Para state, Brazil. From the trees they take traditional medicines, as well as products they sell, such as acai, an Amazonian berry that’s a vitamin- and calorie-packed breakfast staple in Brazil. AP Photo/Rodrigo AbdTropical rainforests are medicine reservoirs
The need for new medicines to combat heart disease and cancer is dire. A rich and diverse source of chemicals can be found in natural plant products. With knowledge of genes and enzymes that make medicinal compounds in native plant species, scientists can apply genetic engineering approaches to increase their production in a sustainable manner.
Tropical rainforests house vast biodiversity of plants, but this diversity faces significant threat from human activity.
To help students in my genetics and biotechnology class appreciate the value of plants in medical research, I refer to findings from my research on plant sterols. My goal is to help them recognize that many cellular processes are similar between plants and humans. My hope is that, by learning that plants and animals share similar genes and metabolic pathways with health implications, my students will value plants as a source of medicines and become advocates for preservation of plant biodiversity.
Walter Suza, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Written by Walter Suza, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying Fake labels Indigenous Land-grabbing Human rights abuses Deforestation Human health hazardsBig brands using “sustainable” RSPO palm oil yet still causing deforestation (there are many others)
Nestlé is destroying rainforests, releasing mega-tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, and killing hundreds of endangered species. Once these animals are gone – they are gone for good. See Nestlé’s full list of…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesFebruary 9, 2021March 2, 2025Despite global retail giant Colgate-Palmolive forming a coalition with other brands in 2020, virtue-signalling that they will stop all deforestation, they continue to do this – destroying rainforest and releasing mega-tonnes of carbon…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesFebruary 9, 2021March 2, 2025Mondelez destroys rainforests, sending animals extinct and release mega-tonnes of carbon into air for so-called “sustainable” palm oil. Boycott them!
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesFebruary 9, 2021February 28, 2026In 2020, global retail giant Unilever unveiled a deforestation-free supply chain promise. By 2023 they would be deforestation free. This has been and gone and they are still causing deforestation. This brand has…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesFebruary 9, 2021March 2, 2025Savvy consumers have been pressuring French Dairy multinational Danone for decades to cease using deforestation palm oil. Yet they actually haven’t stopped this. From their website: ‘Danone is committed to eliminating deforestation from…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesMarch 6, 2021March 2, 2025Despite decades of promises to end deforestation for palm oil PepsiCo (owner of crisp brands Frito-Lay, Cheetos and Doritos along with hundreds of other snack food brands) have continued sourcing palm oil that…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesJune 9, 2022March 2, 2025Despite decades of promises to end deforestation for palm oil Procter & Gamble or (P&G as they are also known) have continued sourcing palm oil that causes ecocide, indigenous landgrabbing, and the habitat…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesJune 3, 2022March 2, 2025In late 2023, Kelloggs became Kellanova for their US arm. Savvy consumers have been pressuring Kelloggs for decades to cease using deforestation palm oil. Yet they actually haven’t stopped this. From their website:…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesFebruary 9, 2021March 2, 2025Global mega-brand Johnson & Johnson have issued a position statement on palm oil in 2020. ‘At Johnson & Johnson, we are committed to doing our part to address the unsustainable rate of global…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesFebruary 9, 2021July 13, 2025PZ Cussons is a British-owned global retail giant. They own well-known supermarket brands in personal care, cleaning, household goods and toiletries categories, such as Imperial Leather, Morning Fresh, Carex, Radiant laundry powder and…
Read more by Palm Oil DetectivesMarch 10, 2021March 2, 2025Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,179 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Read moreMel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Read moreAnthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Read moreHealth Physician Dr Evan Allen
Read moreThe World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
Read moreHow do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
Read more3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support #Amazon #Borneo #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Congo #CorpseFlower #deforestation #endangeredPlants #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #medical #Medicine #medicines #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #plants #rainforests #TitanArum #vegan -
I’m sure you’ve seen one of these on the internet before. Or maybe IRL!
This is a #Amorphophallustitanum… the largest stemmed flowering plant (an inflorescence - ie a cluster of flowers arranged on a single stalk) on earth.
It is native to the island of Sumatra in western Indonesia.
The first pic is from the #Cairns #Botanicgardens, #Queensland #Australia (2022).
Intriguing info:
The Amorphophallus titanum is also known as the "#corpseflower" because of its pungent smell when it blooms.
The odour is designed to attract carrion flies for pollination by imitating the stench of a dead animal.
Some #Amorphophalli will go through an entire life cycle in three or four years, although most (a #titanarum, pictured) can be expected to live for several decades.
The titanarum stores energy in its corm, or underground stem. This energy (food) is later used to fuel the rapid growth, following a period of dormancy.
Usually takes 4–10 years or more between flowerings (ie, for a titanarum).
The corm can weigh around 70–90 kg (154–200 pounds).
While in bloom, the plant structure generates heat, more than 90 °F (32 °C)
They typically grow around 2.5m (8 feet) tall. Some grow larger.
How intriguing!
Source: abc.net.au.
Also Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum and Britannica.com.#urbanflora #flora #gardening #garden #melbourne #aesthetichedonist #januaryjoy #gardeningAU #gardening #narrm #victoria #Australia #godmustbeabotanist #makesmehappy