Tiffy Springs Back to Life!

She was on display at the Fullerton Arboretum at the north end of the CSUF campus.

[ Open this page in its own frame | General info about the Titan Arum ]

Recent images are near the top.


Fullerton Arboretum, 27 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

Amorphophallus bud ready to open
27 May 2003. Tiffy is closed now. Her peak bloom is past. Photo by Glen Williams.


Fullerton Arboretum, 23 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

Amorphophallus inflorescence
shoot looking down into the inflorescence
23 May 2003. Tiffy is fully open. Photo by Glen Williams. 23 May 2003. Closeup of Tiffy's flowers at the base of the spadix. Photo by Glen Williams.


Fullerton Arboretum, 22 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

two women next to opening bud
two men standing next to opening bud
22 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Marina & Diane. Photo by Chris Barnhill. 22 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Greg & Bill. Photo by Chris Barnhill.


Fullerton Arboretum, 22 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

woman admiring bud
man posing with Amorphophallus
22 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Jody. Photo by Chris Barnhill. 22 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Paul Carey. Photo by Greg Dyment.


Fullerton Arboretum, 21 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

Tiffy ready to open
Tiffy, ready to open
21 May 2003. Tiffy, ready to open. Photo by Chris Barnhill. 21 May 2003. Tiffy, ready to open. Photo by Chris Barnhill.


Fullerton Arboretum, 19 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

Joan admiring bud
Tiffy next to baby arum
Tiffy two inches taller
19 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Joan. Photo by Chris Barnhill. 19 May 2003. Tiffy poses with a young Titan Arum in leaf. Tiffy's last leaf was about 12 feet tall! Photo by Chris Barnhill. 19 May 2003. Tiffy. She grew 2 inches Saturday, none on Sunday, and is now 48 inches tall. She'll open up in a day or two. Photo by Chris Barnhill.


Fullerton Arboretum, 16 May 2003. Tiffy at the Fullerton Arboretum.

Amorphophallus inflorescence
Tiffy on "The Simpsons"? At 8:30pm on Sunday night, 18 May 2003, the Fox network (channel 11 in the Los Angeles area) aired "Moe Baby Blues" an episode that begins with the Simpson family visiting the Springfield Arboretum to experience a large stinky flower that looks surprisingly like a Titan Arum. The crowd is overwhelmed by the stench! The Simpson's website is at http://www.thesimpsons.com/
16 May 2003. Tiffy relaxes before the weekend. Photo by Chris Barnhill. 18 May 2003. The Titan Arum plant makes is debut on The Simpsons! (appears to be Episode #1433). If anyone from the Fox network is reading this, we'd love a copy of the footage and/or a screen shot for this web page.


Fullerton Arboretum, 15 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

Jody, Holly and Diane with bud
Bob dreaming
15 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Jody, Holly, & Diane. Photo by Chris Barnhill. 15 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Bob Allen. Photo by Chris Barnhill.


Fullerton Arboretum, 14 May 2003. Tiffy & friends at the Fullerton Arboretum.

man and two woman with bud
Stephanie with bud
14 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Diane, Greg, & Joan. Photo by Chris Barnhill. 14 May 2003. Tiffy poses with Stephanie. Photo by Chris Barnhill.


Fullerton Arboretum, 13 May 2003. Tiffy was delivered to the beautiful Fullerton Arboretum at the north end of our campus for public viewing.

Leo posing with bud in back of cart
Leo next to bud
13 May 2003. Tiffy & Leo Song arrive at the Fullerton Arboretum. 13 May 2003. Proud Papa Leo Song measuring up to Tiffy.


CSUF, 12 May 2003. Tiffy's growth has been astonishing! She is now 40.25 inches in height (above the peduncle [fancy word for a flower stem]). Preparations are underway to show her off at the beautiful Fullerton Arboretum at the north end of our campus.

bud of inflorescence
Leo standing next to developing bud
12 May 2003. She measures 40.25 inches from peduncle top to tip of spadix! 12 May 2003. Proud Papa Leo Song measuring up to Tiffy.


CSUF, 21 April 2003. Tiffy has grown quite a bit since 28 March. We're still not sure if this is a leaf or a flower. (Leo thinks it's a flower)

hand next to newly emerged bud
close-up of interesting pattern on bud sheath
Tiffy, 21 April 2003, 12:30pm. She stands 30cm (12 inches) tall. An adult hand is shown for size reference. Tiffy, 21 April 2003, 12:30pm. Detail of the "mossy-looking" patch on her trunk.


CSUF, 28 March 2003. Fans of the Titan Arum, Amorphophallus titanum (Araceae), anxiously await the reawakening of Tiffy, one of our two large plants.

She last flowered in the summer of 2000 and was visited by nearly 10,000 people over her one-week flowering period. By week's end, her flower fell over (like a deflated balloon), died, fell off (don't worry - that is normal). The following spring, she sent up a single leaf that lasted 18 months and fell off in December 2002 (again, this is normal for her). On 27 March, Greenhouse Manager Leo Song announced that she is growing a new shoot, hopefully a flower (although it could be another leaf). In the following weeks, we will know if this is a leaf or a flower.

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

newly emerged bud
bud with hand for size reference
Tiffy, 28 March 2003, 10am. She stands 2.5cm (6 inches) tall. Tiffy, 28 March 2003, 10am. She stands 2.5cm (6 inches) tall. Three fingers of an adult hand are shown for size reference.


All photographs are copyrighted and remain the property of the individual photographers. Educational non-profit use is allowed. Commercial use is prohibited unless you are explicitly granted permission by the copyright holder. Credit for the photograph must appear with any photograph used. Contact Edward Read, Chris Barnhill (cbarnhill@fullerton.edu), or Bob Allen (bugbob@fullerton.edu) for licensing details.


Revised 01, Junw , 2006