Species
+

Amorphophallus titanum (Becc.) Becc.

Corpse Flower, Corpse Plant, Kembang bangkai, Titan Arum

Climate known 41 photographs Bulb, tuber or caudex
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has a large unbranched inflorescence, a tall single leaf branched like a tree, and a heavy tuber which enables the plant to produce the inflorescence. A. titanum is endemic to rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Text from Wikipedia, “Amorphophallus titanum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Amorphophallus

Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 200 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the arum family (Araceae), native to Asia, Africa, Australia and various oceanic islands. The genus includes the Titan arum of Indonesia, which has the largest inflorescence in the genus, and is known as the 'corpse flower' for the pungent odour it produces during its flowering period, which can take up to seven years of growth before it occurs.

Text from Wikipedia, “Amorphophallus”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Araceae
Described by
(Becc.) Becc.
Native to
Sumatera
Wild records
62 in range· 18 open

At a glance

Warmest month
30°C
Jun, mean day; nights 23 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
2780mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Nov 305 mm (CHELSA)
Light
29–34DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex by the genus Amorphophallus, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (September to January and March to May at the habitat (not shifted)). Habitat rain 2780 mm a year, wettest November at 305 mm, driest July at 148 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 29 to 34 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 21.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Amorphophallus selebicus Nakai; Amorphophallus titanum (Becc.) Becc. ex Arcang.; Conophallus titanum Becc.

Cultivation

Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex by the genus Amorphophallus, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table holds no figure for this group, which spans too much for one minimum; the cold floor is the habitat's alone, and no prose comes from the table.

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (September to January and March to May at the habitat (not shifted)).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (2125 mm of 2780 mm) takes 8 months, September to January and March to May. Mean temperature moves 1.2 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere, within 10° of the equator; with no thermal season there there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 2780 mm a year, wettest November at 305 mm, driest July at 148 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

2780 mm a year at the habitat, 2125 mm of it September to January and March to May. Wettest month November at 305 mm, driest July at 148 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 2635 mm to 3166 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 29 to 34 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 29 to 34 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 26, the highest 90th-percentile month 35).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 21.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 21.1 °C, the absolute minimum 18.6 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 31.1 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 22.0 °C in January (across the envelope cells 20.1 °C to 23.3 °C), warmest day 29.7 °C in June (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 21.1 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 67 to 71% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 28 °C in Dec to 30 °C in Jun; mean night from 22 °C in Jan to 23 °C in May. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 2780 mm of rain a year, most in Nov. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 5 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 18.6 °C and the 99th-percentile day 31.1 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.15°20°25°30°35°31.1° 99th-percentile day (undated)18.6° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 29–34RH 67–71 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 5 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 27–2929 / 28–2929 / 28–3029 / 28–3030 / 28–3030 / 28–3029 / 28–3029 / 28–3029 / 28–3029 / 28–3028 / 27–2928 / 27–29
Night °C22 / 20–2322 / 20–2423 / 20–2423 / 21–2423 / 21–2423 / 21–2423 / 20–2323 / 20–2322 / 20–2323 / 20–2323 / 20–2322 / 20–23
Rain mm254 / 214–312189 / 170–257272 / 231–306286 / 243–311219 / 196–250163 / 152–193148 / 134–210155 / 139–223215 / 201–325283 / 250–354305 / 283–336291 / 257–350
DLI30 / 27–3134 / 31–3433 / 30–3533 / 30–3532 / 30–3432 / 31–3432 / 30–3434 / 32–3533 / 32–3531 / 31–3429 / 28–3129 / 26–30
RH %70 / 66–7269 / 65–7071 / 65–7170 / 65–7369 / 65–7267 / 65–7067 / 65–6967 / 65–6869 / 67–7069 / 67–7271 / 67–7271 / 66–72

Each figure is the median across the 5 grid cells holding the 5 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1808:5639 (-0.425, 101.975). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 18.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 21.1 °C, 99th-percentile day 31.1 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 5 distinct grid cells holding the 5 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1808:5639 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -0.50_101.875, lapse-corrected -12 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 77 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeSumatera
Kew's description“tuberous geophyte” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker3.501, 98.184 · in the densest population, 33 records (53% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 62 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 18 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 495 km away. 15 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 57 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 62 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Amorphophallus titanumAmorphophallus titanumAmorphophallus titanumAmorphophallus titanumAmorphophallus titanumAmorphophallus titanumAmorphophallus titanumAmorphophallus titanum

Photographs: (c) eustreptospondylus, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); no rights reserved · CC0 (4); (c) Павлик Лисицын, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Amorphophallus titanum, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Plant Surfaces: Structures and Functions for Biomimetic Innovations
Wilhelm Barthlott, Matthias Mail, Bharat Bhushan, Kerstin Koch (2017) · Nano-Micro Letters
Complete Chloroplast Genomes of Anthurium huixtlense and Pothos scandens (Pothoideae, Araceae): Unique Inverted Repeat Expansion and Contraction Affect Rate of Evolution
Abdullah Abdullah, Claudia L. Henriquez, Furrukh Mehmood, Mónica M. Carlsen (2020) · Journal of Molecular Evolution
Applying the zoo model to conservation of threatened exceptional plant species
Jordan Wood, Jonathan D. Ballou, Taylor Callicrate, Jeremie B. Fant (2020) · Conservation Biology
Recent Development in Micropropagation Techniques for Rare Plant Species
Vasiliy Chokheli, Pavel Dmitriev, Vishnu D. Rajput, Semyon D. Bakulin (2020) · Plants
Chloroplast genome evolution in the Dracunculus clade (Aroideae, Araceae)
Abdullah Abdullah, Claudia L. Henriquez, Furrukh Mehmood, Amir Hayat (2020) · Genomics
A torch in the rain forest: thermogenesis of the Titan arum ( Amorphophallus titanum )
Wilhelm Barthlott, Jörg Szarzynski, Paul L. G. Vlek, W. Lobin (2008) · Plant Biology
Biocrystals in Plants: A Short Review on Biomineralization Processes and the Role of Phototropins into the Uptake of Calcium
Mayra Cuéllar‐Cruz, Karina S. Pérez, M.E. Mendoza, Abel Moreno (2020) · Crystals
Chemical Identity of a Rotting Animal-Like Odor Emitted from the Inflorescence of the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum)
Mika Shirasu, Kouki Fujioka, Satoshi Kakishima, Shunji Nagai (2010) · Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry
Tyrian Purple: The First Four Thousand Years
Chris Cooksey (2013) · Science Progress
High-Efficiency Solar Vapor Generation Boosted by a Solar-Induced Updraft with Biomimetic 3D Structures
Changwook Kim, Dongheok Shin, Monu Nath Baitha, Yunha Ryu (2021) · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Cellular Ultrastructure and Crystal Development in Amorphophallus (Araceae)
Christina J. Prychid, Rachel S. Jabaily, Paula J. Rudall (2008) · Annals of Botany

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Amorphophallus 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 14 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.