Jessie Horning: Untitled (a torch in the rain forest)
Untitled (A torch in the rain forest)
Sintra prints
Biological Sciences Greenhouse, room 710H: 332 W 12th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210
On view August 24, 10 am – 5 pm
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- Jessie Horning
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- Jessie Horning
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- Jessie Horning
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- Jessie Horning
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- Jessie Horning
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- Jessie Horning: Untitled (A torch in the rainforest)
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- Jessie Horning: Untitled (A torch in the rainforest)
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- Jessie Horning: Untitled (A torch in the rainforest)
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- Jessie Horning: Untitled (A torch in the rainforest)
The Titan arum is native to the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was introduced to the scientific community in the late 1800s, and today Titan arums are cultivated and studied in greenhouses throughout the world.
For botanists, the appeal of the Titan arum lies in its unusual flowering behavior. Each plant produces a single flower every seven years, therefore catching a Titan arum in bloom is a rare event. This flower can grow as tall as ten feet high, and it blooms for only one night. As it blooms, the massive flower heats up to the temperature of a human body and emits the smell of rotting flesh. Attracted to the putrid scent, pollinators such as blowflies, carrion beetles, and sweatbees swarm the plant.
Similar to the frenzy of pollinators attracted to a Titan arum growing in the wild, communication reverberates among botanists as they anticipate the blooming of a cultivated Titan arum. Plants are placed under live video surveillance to capture every moment as the flower unfolds, and the public is invited to witness (and smell) the plants during the night that they bloom.
I am fascinated by the buzz that surrounds this enigmatic plant as it grows in the wild or in a greenhouse. For pollinators and humans, the Titan arum’s repulsive flowering behavior serves as a source of attraction.