Biological and physiological Observations on the Inflorescence of Amorphophallus

Amorphophallus variabilis Bl. is a well known, though not very popular plant in Java. During the dry season when the leaves are gone the inflorescences appear everywhere in lightly shaded places (fig. 1). In the afternoons their fetid odour is wafted about. The name given locally is „Kemhang Bangke”, which means carrion-flower, but the smell is certainly not putrescent, though most people say so. There is no point, however, in discussing the smell of this and other fetid flowers here, though, personally, I find the smell of Amorphophallus variabilis more like that of the durian fruit.