The world's stinkiest flower has borne fruit! Netizens: I want to eat it...

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The giant arum in the greenhouse of the National Botanical Garden has produced fruits for the first time

Image source: National Botanical Garden

Two fiery red giant konjac fruit clusters

Like two bright torches

Aroused the curiosity of netizens

In fact, this is not the first time that giant konjac has been trending on the Internet.

July this year

When they bloom in the National Botanical Gardens

It has become a hot topic of discussion

What's special about this plant?

Why do you frequently come into people's sight?

What kind of plant is giant konjac?

Giant Arum is a rare and endangered plant in the world

One of the three flagship species

Native to western Indonesia

Sumatra tropical jungle

It is tall

Although it is a herb

It has the largest unbranched spadix in the world

The highest inflorescence known to date reaches more than 3 meters

Taller than ordinary houses

Image source: National Botanical Garden

Giant Arum in bloom

Will release its own synthesis

Gas containing more than 100 chemicals

The main components are hydrocarbons and sulfides

So it smells like rotting meat.

At the same time, the giant konjac will release heat when it blooms.

The inflorescence temperature is maintained at around 36 degrees Celsius

These operations

It's not to scare people.

It's for survival

Relying on the "unique" smell

Giant konjac can attract flies, scavenging beetles and other insects

And some small scavengers come over

Let them pollinate themselves better

Why are flowers and fruits both trending on the Internet?

Whether it is wild or cultivated giant konjac

Flowering is very rare

The number of times that giant arum has been recorded to have bloomed is about 100.

Under normal circumstances

A giant konjac only blooms 2-4 times in its lifetime

Each flowering period does not exceed 48 hours

So, 3 months ago

Giant Arum in bloom at the National Botanical Gardens

It also held a special night event called "Giant Konjac Night"

Many people go there specifically to "smell the stench"

Image source: National Botanical Gardens Giant Amorphophallus Night Exhibition

After talking about flowering, let’s talk about fruiting.

Although in 2013, the Beijing Botanical Garden (now the National Botanical Garden North)

Quadruplets have been achieved

But at that time, the pollen used was white konjac.

It only stimulates the fruit to expand

No fully mature seeds

This year, from the individual plants in the group flowering

The collected pollen is pollinated downwards in sequence

After flowering, the fruit expands and colors smoothly

Fruit dissection in August

Obvious embryos were found

More than two months later

The staff is looking forward to

Second anatomical observation of giant konjac fruit

Surprisingly, the seeds have taken shape.

The seeds separate from the pulp on their own

The first giant konjac fruit was achieved in China

Image source: National Botanical Garden

Why does my country want to introduce giant konjac?

According to incomplete statistics

Indonesia has lost 72% of its original tropical rainforest

The situation is still getting worse

The original habitat of the giant konjac was directly destroyed.

Giant arum is in critical condition in the wild

This species needs to be conserved

And study its biological learning and reproduction mechanism

Find ways to increase its number

At the same time, giant konjac also has high scientific research and economic value.

The bulb contains a lot of glucomannan

It is one of the best soluble dietary fibers discovered so far.

Can be widely used in food and medicine

Cosmetics, chemicals, biology and other fields

Researchers at the National Botanical Gardens are studying

How to distinguish giant arum from other species in the same genus

Hybridization of konjac with practical value

Cultivating new varieties of konjac

Source: National Botanical Garden, People's Daily

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Compiled by: Cai Lin, Dong Xiaoxian

Editor/Muzi