Features

Raising a world-famous flower

BY THEODORE CARTER

Tourists and locals stand in a line that curls around the U.S. Botanic Garden and down the block, onto Independence Avenue. An ice cream vendor works the crowd, while a young woman on a cell phone tries to explain to someone on the other end why she's waiting so long to see a flower.

"No, it's supposed to be cool," she says. "And it smells really bad."

Slowly the visitors are ushered inside to catch a glimpse–and a whiff–of the blooming, five-foot tall titan arum, or corpse flower, widely acknowledged by botanists and casual spectators as the largest and smelliest flower in the world.

This was a rare event. Very few show gardens have the exotic plant, and even those that do may never see the flower in bloom. The plant owned by the U.S. Botanic Garden bloomed in July for just the second time in over ten years. The first bloom occurred when the garden was undergoing renovations.

While the exotic titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is native to the Indonesian jungles of Sumatra, the Botanic Garden's specimen was raised in Silver Spring by Craig and Fanny Phillips. The Phillipses donated the plant in 1993 when it was just two feet tall.

"We knew if we had kept it, we'd have stunted its growth," says Fanny.

Seeing their titan arum on CNN and in The Washington Post in July was just the latest adventure for the elderly couple, who have spent a lifetime raising reptiles, growing exotic plants, and watching wildlife. Their Forest Glen neighborhood home contains relics of decades of fascination with nature– three full bookshelves of plant guides, a Secrets of the Ocean Realm video on top of the VCR, and a framed desert landscape on the living room wall.

"Right when I met her, I knew we had so many of the same interests," Craig says of Fanny. The two met while going to school at the University of Miami and married in 1956. Their first dates were spent hiking through the Everglades, spotting alligators and crocodiles.

"We'd slosh right through the water," Craig says.

Exploring the Everglades eventually led the couple into growing exotic plants. Florida's wild orchids fascinated them. They began taking orchid samples and growing them at home. Before they knew it, they'd become practicing botanists. So when they heard about the mythical titan arum, the two were immediately captivated.

They started studying and reading about the enormous flower and joined the International Aroid Society, a group of plant enthusiasts fascinated by the titan arum and its botanical relatives. Soon they were among the aroid elite. After the publication of Fanny's article about the flower entitled, "On Living With Monsters," they became acknowledged as self-taught experts.

When titan arum enthusiast Dr. James Symon got it in his head to hunt down the flower in the wild, he called Fanny Phillips.

"I told him the only thing that I knew, which was that they grew in Sumatra," Fanny says.

Symon made the trip to Sumatra and returned to the states with seeds of numerous variations of the Amorphophallus family of plants. He gave the Phillipses several varieties of seeds.

Soon the Phillips home was filled with rare Amorphophallus flowers such as the titan arum, and equally pungent konjac plants.

"They smell like diesel oil and dead fish," Craig says, with a smile.

But for the Phillipses, the smell is part of the fun.

"Pavlov's dogs would salivate when the bell rang. I salivate whenever I smell a certain type of aroid stench. I associate it with a wonderful plant," Craig says.

At one time they had eight enormous konjac plants growing in their living room. Their odor filled the house. There was only one thing they could do.

"We had a stink party," says Fanny. "People came over and we served Limburger cheese and some awful citrus wine."

Since moving to the area in the late 1960s, The Phillipses have donated plants to several area facilities, including the Smithsonian Institution and the National Zoo. After the Cleveland Zoo expressed interest in a titan arum, the Phillipses got on a train and hand delivered a plant, rather than risk harming it in shipping.

"We've never sold plants, but we've given them away to biologists and people who've had experience raising plants," Craig says.

They've donated snakes, too. When the National Zoo was looking for large boa constrictors and pythons, the Phillipses came forward with pets from their home. Reptile buffs since their days tromping through the Everglades, the Phillipses housed one blood python for 26 years. They've also owned a red-kneed tarantula. Still, the titan arum is by far the most famous life form they've raised.

Botanic Garden staff had never seen crowds of the size that came out for the titan arum.

"We estimate that the Conservatory had about 10,000 visitors on Thursday, July 24, making it the biggest day in our history of 160 plus years," says Dr. Christine Flanagan, Public Programs Manager of the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Craig and Fanny are thrilled with the attention the plant has received, mostly because it's brought so many visitors to the often-overlooked garden.

"It's absolutely wonderful what that place has turned into," Craig says.

Dr. Flanagan says, "One of the most gratifying things to come out of the titan arum exhibit was that, apparently, many of the visitors during that time had not been to the Botanic Garden before. Of course, we hope they will come back."

When the Phillipses made their visit to see the blooming titan arum, they were treated like royalty by the garden's excited staff and eager visitors.

"It was great fun," said Fanny.

Tourists even approached them and asked for autographs. "You'd have thought I was Elvis Presley," says Craig with a smile.

Like most everyone else, the Phillipses had never actually seen a blooming titan arum before. It was a glorious event for the two aroid enthusiasts. They were only slightly disappointed that plant's odor wasn't stronger when they visited.

"The species turns its scent on in the evening and late afternoon," says Craig, "so we missed out on it."