Greenhouse hours: Friday: 8:30am to 4:00pm, Sat & Sun: 10:00am to 4:00pm, Mon: 8:30 - ? We will immediately go to extended hours until 10:00pm at night when the plant is full open - stay tuned! It may go Monday or Tuesday!
Our Titan Arum, named Metis, was donated in 2007 by John Kawamoto at the request of Binghamton University alumnus Werner Stiegler. John won three seeds in 2005 from an auction held in Bali, Indonesia. He grew the young plants for two years prior to donating one plant to BU in 2007. When we received the tuber it weighed just over 4 lbs, but after one year of growth it weighed an incredible 40 lbs as it entered dormancy! In the three years Metis has been in the Tropical Room it has put up two leaves; the last leaf was 10 foot high and 10 foot wide.
Metis went into dormancy after its second leaf in April 2010. At that time the tuber weighed 30 lbs. We expected another leaf this year - but what surprised us was a BLOOM! On September 2, 2010 the tip of the spadix was first evident!
September 16Metis is now collapsing but the spadix is still mostly upright this morning. The spathe has fully collapsed back against the spadix. We collected pollen from base last night at 10:00pm, so you will see holes cut into the side of the inflorescence. We believe we caught the pollen at the appropriate time and 4 gel caps were collected to go into the -80 degree freezer for future use. The visitors who were there at 10:00pm were treated to up close and personal photo opts of the interior of the spathe. We will post photos to this site very soon. Check back for the time lapse photography movie which will be posted following the total collapse of the inflorescence. Thank you for all your interest in Metis! Thank you John Kawamoto and Werner Stiegler for making this possible for the students of Binghamton University and the residents of the Southern Tier of New York!
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September 15The spadix has started to collapse and the color of the spathe has washed out a bit. It is still impressive and as of this morning there is still some lingering odor. The greenhouse will be open until 10:00pm tonight, Wed, but will go back to normal hours tomorrow. We recommend an early visit, since it will continue to deteriorate throughout the day. Thank you!
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September 14Metis now measures a grand 67.5 inches tall. The purple is definitely intensifying. The side toward the sun has the color showing through the spathe in the "ribs." The side toward in the shade is not as colorful. I may know this afternoon if it intends to open today or will wait another day or so!
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September 13This morning Metis has not changed from its appearance yesterday afternoon. It is very full at the base, but the spathe is still tightly in place. Stay tuned!
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September 12Metis measures another inch taller this morning, at 64.5 inches. The spathe still looks much as it did last night.
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September 11This morning Metis is still much as it was last night at 7:00pm. It now measures 62.5 inches - over 5 feet tall! One can almost see it changing in roundness and in height. I can now barely measure it, as the pot adds another few feet to the overall height. - Wow! It is now 2:00pm and the new measurement is 63.5 inches; another inch in just 4 hours! Purple is starting to show down the front of the spathe, ever so slightly and more at the top of the frill. Will it wait until Monday? We hope so!
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September 10The tips of the spathe are now showing purple on the inside and are slightly tipped out. The rest of the spathe is still tightly held to the rest of the inflorescence. The measurement this morning is 60 inches, tip to soil! Stay tuned! Check out the movie on the BU facebook page.
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September 9The inflorescence measures 58 inches from tip of spadix to the soil. The spathe is still tightly frilled around the structure.
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September 8The inflorescence measures 55 inches from top of spadix to the soil. It has started to show definition of a stalk below the actual inflorescence. The spadix is still green and the spathe has white spots clearly showing on its green frilly expanse.
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