List of largest inflorescences

The following is a list of the largest inflorescences known from plants that produce seeds.

Type Species and family Native range Dimensions Comments
Largest overall. Largest panicle. Largest monocot. Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera); Arecaceae Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Panicle up to thirty five feet (10.67 meters) top to bottom and 22 feet (6.71 meters) wide.[1] The main axis is up to 14 inches (35 centimeters) thick.[2] It consists of up to sixty million (60,000,000) flowers and emerges from a bud four feet (1.22 meters) high and a foot (30 cm) thick;[3] the largest bud known from any plant. Monocarpic (flowers and fruits once, then dies).
Tallest inflorescence. Florida century plant (Agave neglecta, or A. americana neglecta); Agavaceae Peninsular Florida. 58 feet (17.68 meters) in height (peduncle up to 46 feet (14 meters) "or more" in height[4] plus a panicle sensu stricto of twelve feet (3.66 meters).[5] Each rosette is monocarpic, but the plant produces side shoots or "pups" which can grow as large as the mother plant.
Largest dicot inflorescence. Largest subterranean inflorescence. Longest living inflorescence? Caloncoba flagelliflora; Traditionally Flacourtiaceae, but now often in the small segregate taxon Achariaceae Southern Cameroon and the Congos in west central Africa. A carefully scaled illustration in "Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien" indicates that each stolon-panicle is up to forty feet (twelve meters) in length, and about ten feet (three meters) wide.[6] Its two-inch (5 cm) white flowers rise just above the forest litter. This could be one of the longest lived inflorescences.
Largest complex inflorescence (The major framework is one sort of inflorescence such as a panicle or raceme, but the subunits are not individual flowers, but some completely different sort of inflorescence such as a fig; which is a syncarp.) Ficus geocarpa, and the very similar F. uncinata subsp. strigosa. Moraceae. Malay Peninsula and Borneo. Stolon-panicle up to 33 feet (ten meters) in length. Width not stated Subunits are syncarps (figs).[7][8] Almost all fig species are pollinated by parasitic wasps, usually one wasp species exclusively with one Ficus species. It is not clear how these two subterranean figs accomplish pollination.
Largest spiciform panicle. "Titanka" or "cunco" (Puya raimondi) Bromeliaceae. High Andes of Peru and Bolivia. Spiciforn panicle per se up to 23 feet (seven meters) in height plus a peduncle of another three feet (0.9 meters). At the widest point, it can be 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) in width.[9] Composed of 8,000[10] to 20,000[11] flowers arranged into several hundred secondary spikes. Like the Talipot and most Agaves, this is a monocarp. The life cycle from seed to seed is 80 to 150 years. The largest individuals are to be found near the abandoned village of Manallasaq, Huamanga Province, Peru.[12]
Largest unbranched inflorescence. Largest spatheate inflorescence. The krubi, or bunga bangui Amorphophallus titanum; Araceae Sumatra Spadix up to 3 metres (10 ft) in height. Spathe about half as high and 4' 11" (1.50 meters) across the mouth.[13] The plant lives about forty years, blooming about every fourth year. The inflorescence springs up from a corm weighing up to 257 lbs 6 oz. (117 kilograms). In the non-flowering years the corm produces a huge leaf resembling a small tree.[14]
Largest true spike (All flowers attached directly to the main axis). "Lechugilla" or "mescal pelon". Agave pelona Agavaceae Sonora State, Mexico. Spike per se up to 17 feet (5.18 meters)long with additionally a 4.5 foot (1.37 meters) peduncle. Spike is also four inches (ten centimeters) thick.[15] '
Largest catkin. Ivory palm (Phytelephas macrocarpa). Palmae, or Arecaceae. Montane rainforests of the Andes. Male catkins up to four feet (1.22 meters) long by ten inches (25 centimeters) thick.[16] .
Largest overall umbel. Largest compound umbel. Caucasian Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) Umbelliferae Originally from Caucasus Mountains, but now naturalized to much of Europe. Twice compound umbel up to five feet (1.52 meters) in width, and composed of about 10,000 flowers.[17][18][19] The sap of this plant can produce severe burns to human skin.
Largest raceme. Lobelia rhynchopetalum. Campanulaceae The high mountains of Ethiopia. Up to 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) in height by about ten inches (25 centimeters) wide.[20] Similar giant Lobelia species are found in Ruwenzori and Mount Kilimanjaro.
Largest bractate inflorescence. Philobotryum soyauxianum. Flacourtiaceae. Rainforests of Nigeria, Cameroons and Gabon Bract up to forty inches (one meter) in length by seven inches (17.8 cm) in width.[21] Also spelled Phylobotryon. The flowers appear along the midrib. It is thought by most morphologists that this represents the fusion of an inflorescence to a leaf as in the Lindens (Tilia spp), rather than transfer of reproductive function to the leaves as in Ginkgo biloba epiphylla.
Largest capitate inflorescence (wild). The King Protea (Protea cynaroides) Proteaceae. West Cape Province, South Africa. Twelve inches (30 centimeters) in diameter, including bracts.[22] The largest capitate flower (domesticated) is the so-called "Russian Sunflower" (Helianthus annuus macrocarpus) Compositae which has developed capitate inflorescences or "heads" as much as 25.5 inches (64.8 centimeters) wide, or 29 inches (73.7 centimeters) if the ray florets are included.[23] The "Russian" sunflower is native to the North American prairies.
Largest simple umbel (all flowers radiate from one center) The Candelabra Flower (Brunsvigia orientalis, or B. gigantea) Amaryllidaceae. South Africa. The 35 deep rose colored flowers form a ball up to 24 inches (61 centimeters) in diameter.[24] .
Largest adventitious inflorescence. Streptocarpus wendlandii. Gesneriaceae. South Africa. Pale blue, foxglove-like flowers form a cluster about 12 inches (30 centimeters) long. Unlike Tilia and Phylobotryum, reproductive function has been transferred to the leaf. The entire plant consists of a single cotyledon (seed leaf) up tu 2.5feet (75 centimeters) long by two feet (61 centimeters) wide. The inflorescence forms near the base of the leaf.[25]
Largest individual flower, or solitary inflorescence. The Kerubut (Rafflesia arnoldii); Rafflesiaceae Sumatra Diameter 100 centimetres (39 in) is most commonly given as the upper limit of R. arnoldii's expanse, but the largest R. arnoldii actually measured was one found by Prof. Syahbuddin of Andalas University in the Palupah Nature Reserve near Bukittinggi, Sumatra which measured 3 feet 5 inches (105 centimeters) in width.[26][27] The largest flower bud of any kind ever measured was an R. arnoldii bud seventeen inches (43 centimeters)in diameter (not circumference) found at Mount Sago, western Sumatra by Prof. Willim Meijer in 1956.[28] It was destroyed by a superstitious native before it could bloom, but it seems certain that it would have broken Syahbuddin's record. Although R. arnoldii has the greatest average size, the largest Rafflesia flowers actually measured were two specimens of the Bua Phut (R. kerrii, of peninsular Malaysia and peninsular Thailand). The first, found in the Lojing Highlands of peninsular Malaysia on April 7, 2004 by Prof. Mat-Salleh and Mat Ros measured 3 feet 7.5 inches (111 centimeters)[29] The second, found by Dr. Gan Canglin in August 2007 in Kelantan State, Malaysia measured 3 feet 8 inches ( 112 centimeters) in width.[30][31] Previously unknown to science, R. kerrii was described by Meijer in 1984.
Longest solitary inflorescence Pelican Flower Aristolochia grandiflora (Aristolochiaceae) Widespread in the Neotropics. floral tube up to twenty inches (51 centimeters) wide, with one sepal extending downward as a 'tail' up to ten feet (three meters) in length[32][33] and about one-half inch (about one cm) in width. This flower is much lighter than Rafflesia; about two pounds (about one kilogram) as against up to 24 pounds (10.9 kilograms) for R. arnoldii[34] Rohwer says the tail can be up to 13' 1" (up to four meters) in length.[35] The tail serves literally as a "red carpet" to lead pollinators to the stamens and pistel.

See also

References
  1. Gordon-Cumming, C. F. (1892). Two Happy Years in Ceylon. 1. New York: Charles Scribners Sons. p. 164.
  2. Hodel, Donald F. (1998). Palms and Cycads of Thailand. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. p. 76.
  3. "Colonial Notes". The Gardeners' Chronicle. Third Series. Vol. 25. January 7, 1899. p. 3.
  4. Long, Robert W. and Olga Lakela (1971). A Flora of Tropical Florida. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press. p. 290.
  5. Small, Dr. John S. Ph.D. (1903). Flora of the Southeastern United States. New York: published privately. p. 289.
  6. Gilg, E. (1925). Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, "Flacourtiaceae". 21 (2nd ed.). pp. 377–457.
  7. Corner, E. J. H. (1952). Wayside Trees of Malaya. 1. Singapore: Govt. Printing Office. p. 681.
  8. Flora Malesiana. 17–2. 2005. pp. 40, 461.
  9. Martinelli, Janet, ed. (2005). Plant. New York: D.K. Publishing. p. 415.
  10. Raimondi, Antonio (1874). El Peru. 1. Lima: Imprinto del Estado. pp. 295–297.
  11. Huxley, Anthony (1974). Plant and Planet. New York: Viking. p. 143.
  12. "A Profound Journey". Archived from the original on January 18, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2005.
  13. Glenday, Craig, ed. (2006). Guinness World Records 2006. London: Guinness World Records Ltd. p. 96.
  14. Bown, Deni (2000). Aroids - Plants of the Arum Family. Portland: Timber Press. p. 227.
  15. Measured August 21, 2001 at the Huntington Library, Galleries and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California.
  16. McCurrach, James L. (1960). Palms of the World. New York: Harper and Bros. pp. 173–174.
  17. Chittenden, Fred and Patrick Synge (1965). Royal Hort. Soc. Dictionary of Gardening. 2. Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press. p. 986.
  18. "Heracleum Mantegazzianum". The Gardeners' Chronicle. Third Series. Vol. 23. May 7, 1898. p. 284.
  19. The Garden. Vol. 59 no. 1528. March 2, 1901. p. 148. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. Karsten, Georg and Heinrich Schenck (1910). Vegetationsbilder. Jena: Gustav Fischer. p. Vol. 7 Plate 30.
  21. Menninger, Edward R. (1967). Fantastic Trees. New York: Viking Press. p. 52.
  22. Eliovsen, Sima (1965). Proteas for Pleasure. Cape Town: Howard Timmons. p. 64.
  23. <not recorded>. "<not recorded>". Organic Gardening and Farming. 10 (12): 56–57 with excellent photos.
  24. Van der Spuy, Una (1971). Flowers of South Africa foe the Garden. Johannesberg: Hugh Keartland. p. 158 plus photo p. 157.
  25. Perry, Francis and Leslie Greenwood (1972). Flowers of the World. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 127.
  26. correspondance from Prof. (emeritus) Willim Meijer of the University of Kentucky at Lexington.
  27. Marent, Thomas and Ben Morgan (2006). Rainforest. New York: DK Publications Inc. p. 253 caption.
  28. Meijer loc cit,
  29. <not stated> (April 2004). "Rafflesia in Bloom". Retrieved April 4, 2008.
  30. <not stated> (August 11, 2007). "World's Biggest Rafflesia Found in Kelantan". Retrieved September 11, 2007.
  31. Tun, Jang (March 7, 2008). "R.kerrii: World's Biggest Rafflesia Found in Kelantan". Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  32. Pfeifer, Howard W. Ph.D. (November 1966). "Revision of North and Central American Species of Aristolochea". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 53 (2): 164. doi:10.2307/2394940. JSTOR 2394940.
  33. Correspondance with Prof. (emeritus) Howard W. Pfeifer of the Univ. of Connecticut.
  34. Marent and Morgan loc.cit.
  35. Rohwer, Prof. Dr. Jens G. (2002). Tropical Plants of the World. New York: Sterling Pub. Co. Inc. p. 208.


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