Hand Pollination of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius

Following the removal of the spathe for easy access to the female flowers, the pollen can be applied. Since the pollen of this inflorescene will not dehisce until the following day, pollen from another source must be used. The pollen is applied to the receptive stigmatic surfaces of the pistils using a brush or anyhing else suitable for transfering the pollen.

The pollen should be applied uniformly around the female flower zone of the spadix to ensure uniform pollination. Missing the pollination of an area of pistils could result in the deformity of the ripening infructescence that could endanger the complete ripening of the fruits.

It is possible to self pollinate by using the pollen from the unopened male folwers. The pollen is removed after dissecting the male flowers. However, self pollination results in inbreeding depression which is common in self pollinated aroids. This self pollination technique was used to pollinate an Amorphophallus titanum at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in 1999.

This page was created by Scott Hyndman for the I.A.S. on January 14, 2001.