Corpse Flowers

Amorphophallus

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Let’s face it—when you think of charismatic megaflora, chances are you have in mind something majestic, like a towering Sequoia, or something ancient, like a Joshua tree. But a plant with a four-foot stalk that smells like a cross between rotting stinky cheese and animal feces? This week’s podcast takes us to a sacred island off the coast of Madagascar, where an intrepid botanist braved fever and worse to bring a specimen of this unlikely botanical superstar back alive. Ari Daniel Shapiro reports.

Image Credit: Amorphophallus Sp., Greg Wahlert

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Meet the Scientists

Corpse Flower Podcast: Meet the Scientist

Meet scientist Greg Wahlert, featured in our recent podcast:

Greg Wahlert

Where do you work?

Postdoctoral researcher, Planetary Biodiversity Inventory of Solanum: A Worldwide Treatment; University of Utah, Department of Biology, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

What do you study?

I study the diversity, taxonomy, and evolutionary relationships of plants, especially Solanum (tomatoes), Rinorea (tree violets), and Arctostaphylos (manzanitas).

What are three title you would give yourself?

Botanist, conservationist, teacher.

What do you do when you are not working?

I enjoy getting out into natural areas to hike, camp, and explore, which provides the best opportunity to be among the wild plants and animals living freely in their environment. So much of practicing biology involves computers, laboratories, and looking at museum specimens, but it is interacting directly with nature that rejuvenates me and reminds me why I wanted to become a botanist in the first place. I also like to explore the lesser traveled areas, here at home or abroad, in search of wilderness, solitude, or authentic experiences with other cultures and foreign landscapes.

What do you like most about science?

I like most discovering new things about the plant world that were previously unknown. Doing taxonomy and describing new species is personally rewarding, as those efforts contribute to the greater understanding of Earth's biodiversity and may help with conservation efforts. I also take pleasure in bringing students out into the field and seeing their interest and curiosity in the natural world around them.

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Extras

Corpse Flowers: Podcast Extras

Images

Images courtesy of Greg Wahlert, Ken Wahlert and Ari Daniel Shapiro.

Facts

Other plants use the smell of decay to lure insect pollinators.

	Carrion Plant, Stapelia gigantea, also known as the Zulu Giant.
	Hydorna africana, a root parasite of other plants that sends up a stinky, fleshy flower that attracts hordes of carrion beetles
	Dead Horse Alum Lily, Helicodiceros muscivorus. Native to the Mediterranean, this remarkable plant is able to raise its temperature to attract insects that hone in on the heat signature of fresh carrion.
	It’s unclear whether another so-called corpse flower, Rafflesia arnoldi, smells like rotting flesh to attract insects or because its bloom rots quickly in the tropical heat.

Participate

Do you have your own plant collection?

Share pictures of it and a story of how you collected it with us here. (Know and abide by any restrictions on plant collecting, however. They are posted at most trailheads in wildlife refuges, or confer with a ranger before setting out. Or use your camera to do the collecting.)