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For botanists①, it doesn’t get more exciting than this — after 75 years, the Titan Arum② plant has unfurled its leaves and is in full bloom.
For curious crowds who gathered, they perhaps realised that a onceinalifetime look is more than enough — thanks to its pungent③ odour of rotting flesh.
The flower, nicknamed ‘Corpse flower’, bloomed late on Good Friday at the University of Basel, Switzerland.
The eight foot plant, which is indigenous to Sumatra’s rainforests in Indonesia, has the largest unbranched shoot in the world. On average, they bloom once in a decade.
Titan Arum iscoveted④ by collectors and plant enthusiasts around the world because of its strange blooming patterns.
It produces umbrellasized petals which open to a diameter of three to four feet.
Its distinctive smell can be detected from half a mile away. The odour, which is usually strongest at night,is meant to attract pollinators⑤ such as carrion beetles and flesh flies.
Twelve of them are housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the Princess of Wales Conservatory among hundreds of other tropical plants.
When the plants are ready to pollinate, the stem heats up to release a pungent smell, which lasts for about three days.
The largest Arum at Kew gardens weighs 200 lb and grows at as taggering⑥ rate of a quarter of an inch an hour.
Itguzzles⑦ liquid fertiliser and potassium⑧ each week to keep up its strength while bedded in roomy surroundings.
Sir David Attenborough, who invented the name Titan Arum, was the first to capture it flowering on film for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants.
He dropped the plant’s original name — Amorphophallus — perhaps because of the reference to male genitalia.
Q&A
1. The Titan Arum bloomed inrecently.
A. America B. India
C. SwitzerlandD. China
2. It guzzles liquid fertiliser andeach week to keep up its strength while bedded in roomy surroundings.
A. waterB. oxygen
C. nitrogenD. potassium
注释：①botanist：植物学家；
②Titan Arum：泰坦魔芋。原产于印度尼西亚苏门达腊的热带雨林地区，花朵的直径长1.5米，高则将近3米，人们普遍认为这是世界上最大的花。这种植物一般能活150年左右，在它的生命期内只开两三次花。它会发出一种令人作恶如尸肉腐败的味道，因此，又称之为“尸花”。
③pungent：刺鼻的、有刺激味的；
④coveted：渴望、贪求；
⑤pollinator：（花粉）传粉媒介，传粉昆虫；
⑥staggering：大得惊人的、难以想象的、骇人的；
⑦guzzle：狂饮、猛喝；
⑧potassium：钾。
Q&A答案 1. C 2. D
资料来源 中国日报
注释编辑 桑 实
责任编辑 张丹凤
For curious crowds who gathered, they perhaps realised that a onceinalifetime look is more than enough — thanks to its pungent③ odour of rotting flesh.
The flower, nicknamed ‘Corpse flower’, bloomed late on Good Friday at the University of Basel, Switzerland.
The eight foot plant, which is indigenous to Sumatra’s rainforests in Indonesia, has the largest unbranched shoot in the world. On average, they bloom once in a decade.
Titan Arum iscoveted④ by collectors and plant enthusiasts around the world because of its strange blooming patterns.
It produces umbrellasized petals which open to a diameter of three to four feet.
Its distinctive smell can be detected from half a mile away. The odour, which is usually strongest at night,is meant to attract pollinators⑤ such as carrion beetles and flesh flies.
Twelve of them are housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the Princess of Wales Conservatory among hundreds of other tropical plants.
When the plants are ready to pollinate, the stem heats up to release a pungent smell, which lasts for about three days.
The largest Arum at Kew gardens weighs 200 lb and grows at as taggering⑥ rate of a quarter of an inch an hour.
Itguzzles⑦ liquid fertiliser and potassium⑧ each week to keep up its strength while bedded in roomy surroundings.
Sir David Attenborough, who invented the name Titan Arum, was the first to capture it flowering on film for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants.
He dropped the plant’s original name — Amorphophallus — perhaps because of the reference to male genitalia.
Q&A
1. The Titan Arum bloomed inrecently.
A. America B. India
C. SwitzerlandD. China
2. It guzzles liquid fertiliser andeach week to keep up its strength while bedded in roomy surroundings.
A. waterB. oxygen
C. nitrogenD. potassium
注释：①botanist：植物学家；
②Titan Arum：泰坦魔芋。原产于印度尼西亚苏门达腊的热带雨林地区，花朵的直径长1.5米，高则将近3米，人们普遍认为这是世界上最大的花。这种植物一般能活150年左右，在它的生命期内只开两三次花。它会发出一种令人作恶如尸肉腐败的味道，因此，又称之为“尸花”。
③pungent：刺鼻的、有刺激味的；
④coveted：渴望、贪求；
⑤pollinator：（花粉）传粉媒介，传粉昆虫；
⑥staggering：大得惊人的、难以想象的、骇人的；
⑦guzzle：狂饮、猛喝；
⑧potassium：钾。
Q&A答案 1. C 2. D
资料来源 中国日报
注释编辑 桑 实
责任编辑 张丹凤