Genus Amorphophallus (lit. amorphous + phallus) is a group of flowering plants best known for the gigantic and stenchsome Titan arum, a.k.a the corpse flower, and the more common and slightly less stenchsome voodoo lily. Amorphophalli all try to attract insects with their scent, but not all of the scents are unattractive to humans; just the famous ones.
Members of this genus tend to have fleshy spadices composed of
many small pistils at the bottom and stamens above; the pistils open first, and usually contain pollination traps to ensnare insects. These die off as the stamens open to shower the insect with pollen; the plant thus gives the insects a chance to pollinate the female flowers, then showers them will pollen, then releases them to fertilize other plants, an elaborate scheme to avoiding self-pollination. This process takes place over a day or two, with the flowers dying back thereafter. It is interesting to note that in many species the blooms produce heat, presumably to help attract insects.
These plants are native to Asia, Africa, and Oceania, but have been imported to biological gardens and greenhouses around the world. They are opportunistically in secondary forests, liking some shade; this often leads to easy growing for any gardener in a climate warm enough to support them.
Amorphophallus is largely attractive to humans in that is is unattractive in interesting ways, but the croms of A. Konjac is edible, usually known by its Japanese name, konnyaku; and A. paeoniifolius produces the elephant foot "yam", known in India as ol, oal or suran, among other names, and in the Philippines as pongapong. Most other species are not edible, and the pretty fruit some species produce are never edible.
Clade monocots; order Alismatales; family Araceae; subfamily Aroideae.
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