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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 (11 meters) top to bottom and 22 feet (6.7 meters) wide.[1] The main axis (peduncle) 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 (1.2 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 (18 meters) in height (peduncle up to 46 feet (14 meters) "or more" in height[4] plus a panicle sensu stricto of twelve feet (3.7 meters).[5] Each rosette is monocarpic, but the plant produces side shoots or "pups" which can grow as large as the mother plant. This is not the same A. neglecta which is synonymous with A. weberi, a much smaller plant. Dr Small apparently used the name twice.
Largest dicot inflorescence. Largest subterranean inflorescence. Longest living inflorescence? Caloncoba flagelliflora; Traditionally Flacourtiaceae, but now often in the small segregate taxon Achariaceae Southern Cameroon, Gabon 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][7] Its two-inch (5 cm) wide, six-petaled white flowers rise just above the forest litter. This could be one of the longest lived inflorescences. In principle it could produce flowers for decades.
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 syconium.) Ficus geocarpa, and the very similar F. uncinata subsp. strigosa. Moraceae. Malay Peninsula and Borneo. Recently it was discovered also in Arunachal Pradesh, India.[8] Stolon-panicle up to 33 feet (ten meters) in length. Width not stated. Subunits are syconia (figs).[9][10] 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. Spiciform panicle per se up to 23 feet (seven meters) in height plus a peduncle of another three feet (0.91 meters). At the widest point, it can be 4.5 feet (1.4 meters) in width.[11] Composed of 8,000[12] to 20,000[13] 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.[14]
Largest triplex inflorescence (Combining features of three different kinds of inflorescences). "Makua" (Harmsiopanax ingens) [Araliaceae]. Montane rainforests of New Guinea. Up to 16.6 feet (five meters) high and comparable width.[15] The basic framework is a panicle, The ultimate twigs are spikes, but not with individual flowers, but about fifty tiny umbels of 8 to 20 flowers each. H. ingens is another monocarp. Harmsiopanax may be the only genus which combines three types of inflorescence.
Largest Thyrse Maypole Tree (Spathelia excelsa) Rutaceae. Amazon Basin Ten feet (three meters) in height and equally wide and composed of numerous botryoid cymes.[16] This also is a monocarp. It was discovered in 1911 by Dr. Ernst H. G. Ule.[17]
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 ft 11 in (1.50 meters) across the mouth.[18] 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). A corm grown by Dr. Louis Ricciardello of Gilford, New Hampshire is claimed to have weighed 305 pounds (138 kilograms) and produced an inflorescence 10 ft 2.25 in (3.1052 meters) in height.[19][20] The tallest A titanum inflorescence reported in a credible source is 10 ft 10 in (3.3 meters).[21] In the non-flowering years the corm produces a single leaf about 15 to 20-feet (4.5 to 6 meters) high, and comparably wide, resembling a small tree.[22]
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 (5.2 meters) long with additionally a 4.5-foot (1.4-meter) peduncle. Spike, including flowers, is about four inches (ten centimeters) wide.[23] '
Largest catkin. Ivory palm (Phytelephas macrocarpa). Palmae, or Arecaceae. Montane rainforests of the Andes. Male catkins up to four feet (1.2 meters) long by ten inches (25 centimeters) thick.[24] . According to Dr. Giuseppe Mazza, the Coco de Mer (Lodoicea maldivica) can have male catkins up to two meters (6 ft. 7 in.) in length.[25] but no more than five inches (12 centimeters) in width. Lodoicea is another candidate for longest living inflorescence since the catkins are known to produce pollen for at least ten years.
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 (1.5 meters) in width, and composed of about 10,000 flowers.[26][27][28] The sap of this plant can produce severe burns to human skin.
Largest raceme. "Gibarra" (Lobelia rhynchopetalum). Campanulaceae The high mountains of Ethiopia. Raceme up to 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) in height by about ten inches (25 centimeters) wide, on a plant with a total height of 15 to 22 feet (4.6 to 6.7 meters)[29][30] Similar giant Lobelia species are found in Ruwenzori and Mount Kilimanjaro. The Iliau (Wilkesia gymnoxiphium) [Compositae] of Kauai, Hawai'i produces complex racemes up to three feet (91 centimeters) long by up to fifteen inches (38 centimeters) wide on a peduncle up to nine feet (2.7 meters) in length, on a plant with a total height of about twelve feet (3.7 meters). The raceme consists of about two hundred yellow daisy heads (capitula) each about one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter.[31] These are arranged in about twenty whorls of ten daisies each.
Largest bractate inflorescence. Phyllobotryon soyauxianum. Historically Flacourtiaceae, but now included in Salicaceae. Rainforests of Nigeria, Cameroons and Gabon Bract up to forty inches (one meter) in length by seven inches (18 cm) in width.[32] Also spelled Phyllobotryum, and also known as phyllobotryon spatulatum. 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 globular capitulum (wild). African Breadfruit (Treculia africana) [Moraceae] Central Africa. About four inches (ten centimeters) at time of flowering, eventually becoming up to 18 inches (45 centimeters) in width by about half as long and weighing up to thirty pounds (up to 14 kilograms).[33][34][35] According to Aubreville, The capitulum can be up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) in width and up to 33 pounds (15 kilograms) in weight.[36] The largest globular capitulum (domesticated) is the Jakfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) (Moraceae) grown throughout southern Asia and the East Indies. The largest Jakfruit reported in a reliable journal weighed in at 112 pounds (51 kilograms).[37][38] Both the Jakfruit and Treculia are cauliflorous (borne directly on the trunk and/or major limbs). The present Guinness champion, from Pune (Poona), Maharashtra, India, weighs 94 lbs 3 oz (42.72 kilograms).[39]
Largest capitate inflorescence (wild). The King Protea (Protea cynaroides) Proteaceae. West Cape Province, South Africa. twelve inches (30 centimetres) in diameter, including bracts.[40] 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.[41] The "Russian" sunflower is native to the North American prairies. The tightly packed disc florets can have a phylotaxis as high as 144 / 377.[42]
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.[43] The simple umbel with the greatest number of flowers is Flowering Onion (Allium giganteum)[Alliaceae] of the Himalayas. Mr. James N. Giridlian, a bulb dealer in Arcadia, California counted 5286 florets in a single globular umbel about six inches (15 cm) in diameter.[44]
Largest cincinnus The Paloeloe or Sororoca (Phenakospermum guyannense) (Strelitziaceae) Amazon Rainforest. Each cincinnus of up to 25 flowers is subtended by a sheathing bract up to seventeen inches (44 centimeters) in length and fourteen inches (34 centimeters) wide at the base. Each flower is up to eleven inches (28 centimeters) in length. There are up to ten cincinni, alternating left an right, on an peduncle up to twelve feet (3.65 meters) in total height.[45] This is another monocarp with a terminal inflorescence, but like some agaves it produces sideshoots which will eventually grow as large as the mother plant; in the case of Ph. guianense up to forty feet (twelve meters)in height.
Largest syconium The Dinner Plate Fig (Ficus dammaropsis) (Moraceae) Montane Rainforests of New Guinea. Up to six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter.[46] Treculia, formerly here, has been transferred to a new category: "Globular capitulum". Sorry for any inconvenienc
Largest cyme. Begonia macdougalii Mexico Total length 8' 8" (264 cm) but only seven inches (18 cm) is the cyme sensu stricto, the rest being the peduncle.[47] Reportedly also in Brazil.
Largest adventitious inflorescence. Cape Primrose (Streptocarpus saundersii.) Gesneriaceae. KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. White or pale lavender flowers form a cluster about twenty-four inches (61 centimeters) high by about half as wide. Unlike Tilia and Phyllobotryon, reproductive function has been transferred to the leaf. The entire plant consists of a single cotyledon (seed leaf) up to 2.5 feet (76 cm) long by twenty-five inches (64 centimeters) wide. The inflorescence forms near the petiole end of the leaf.[48]
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.[49][50] 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.[51] 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 (Rafflesia kerrii ), of peninsular Malaysia and peninsular Thailand). The first, found in the Lojing Highlands of peninsular Malaysia on April 7, 2004, by Prof. Dr. Kamarudin Mat-Salleh, and his co-worker Mat Ros, measured 3 feet 7.5 inches (111 centimeters)[52] The second, found by Dr. Gan Canglin in August 2007 in Kelantan State, Malaysia measured 3 feet 8 inches (112 centimeters) in width.[53][54] 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 (in this case a calyx) up to twenty inches (51 centimeters) wide and 22 inches (56 centimeters) long, piebald and multicolored, with one sepal extending downward as a 'tail' up to ten feet (three meters) in length[55][56] 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 (11 kilograms) for R. arnoldii[57] Rohwer says the tail can be up to 13' 1" (up to four meters) in length.[58] The tail serves literally as a "red carpet" to lead pollinators to the stamens and pistel. In sharp contrast to A. grandiflora is A. nana of Mexico. The population around San Luis Potosí have flowers only one-half centimeter (0.2 inch) long by one millimeter (1/25th inch) wide.[59]

See also

References

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  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, Ernst Friedrich (1925). Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, "Flacourtiaceae". Vol. 21 (2nd ed.). pp. 377–457.
  7. ^ Huxley, Anthony (1974). Plant and Planet. New York: Viking Press. p. 88.
  8. ^ Buragohain, R.; et al. (December 2014). "Ficus geocarpa (Moraceae) A New Record for India in Arunachal Pradesh". Rheedea. 24 (2): 110–112.
  9. ^ Corner, E. J. H. (1952). Wayside Trees of Malaya. Vol. 1. Singapore: Govt. Printing Office. p. 681.
  10. ^ Flora Malesiana. Vol. 17–2. 2005. pp. 40, 461.
  11. ^ Martinelli, Janet, ed. (2005). Plant. New York: D.K. Publishing. p. 415.
  12. ^ Raimondi, Antonio (1874). El Peru. Vol. 1. Lima: Imprinto del Estado. pp. 295–297.
  13. ^ Huxley, Anthony (1974). Plant and Planet. New York: Viking. p. 143.
  14. ^ "A Profound Journey". Archived from the original on January 18, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2005.
  15. ^ Philipson, W. R. (1973). "A Revision of Harmsiopanax". Blumea. 21 (1): 84–85.
  16. ^ Cowan, Richard E.; Brizicky, George K. (April 30, 1960). "Taxonomic Relations of Diomma". Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. 10 (2): 64.
  17. ^ Pilger, Robert (April 4, 1914). "Plantae Uleanae". Notizblatt des Botanische Gartens und Museums zu Berlin. 6 (55): 148.
  18. ^ Glenday, Craig, ed. (2006). Guinness World Records 2006. London: Guinness World Records Ltd. p. 96.
  19. ^ Laurel Trier, "Local Surgeon May Own The Largest Flower in the World", GILFORD STEAMER newspaper (July 1, 2010 Page 1
  20. ^ Bradford, Alina (May 30, 2017). "Corpse Flower - Facts about the Smelly Plant". Live Science. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  21. ^ Bogner, J. (1981). Aroideana. 4 (2): 43–53. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ^ Bown, Deni (2000). Aroids - Plants of the Arum Family. Portland: Timber Press. p. 227.
  23. ^ Measured August 21, 2001 at the Huntington Library, Galleries and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California.
  24. ^ McCurrach, James L. (1960). Palms of the World. New York: Harper and Bros. pp. 173–174. ISBN 9780960004607.
  25. ^ Mazza, Dr. Giuseppe (n.d.). "The Incredible Maldivian Lodoicea and the Vallee de Mai". Retrieved September 23, 2015. Caption to a photograph.
  26. ^ Chittenden, Fred and Patrick Synge (1965). Royal Hort. Soc. Dictionary of Gardening. Vol. 2. Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press. p. 986.
  27. ^ "Heracleum Mantegazzianum". The Gardeners' Chronicle. Third Series. Vol. 23. May 7, 1898. p. 284.
  28. ^ The Garden. Vol. 59, no. 1528. March 2, 1901. p. 148. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ^ Karsten, Georg and Heinrich Schenck (1910). Vegetationsbilder. Jena: Gustav Fischer. p. Vol. 7 Plate 30.
  30. ^ Wimmer, F. E. (1953). "Campanulaceae - Lobelioidae". Pflanzenreich. 4 (276b): 667.
  31. ^ Carr, G.D. (n.d.). "Wilkesia gymnoxiphium". Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  32. ^ Menninger, Edward R. (1967). Fantastic Trees. New York: Viking Press. p. 52.
  33. ^ Menninger, Edwin A. (1967). Fantastic Trees. New York: The Viking Press. p. 85.
  34. ^ Fayaz, Ahmed (2011). Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants. Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books. p. 447.
  35. ^ Graf, Alfred B. (1973). Exotica 3. East Rutherford, N.J. pp. 1128 plus photo p. 1170.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  36. ^ Hutchinson, John; Dalziel, J.M. (August 17, 1954). Flora of West Tropical Africa. Vol. 1 Part 2. London: Crown Agents for Overseas Govt's. p. 613.
  37. ^ anonymous (December 26, 1908). Gardener's Chronicle. Third series. 44 (1148): 445. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  38. ^ Burkill, Isaac H. (1935). A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Penninsula. Vol. 1. London: Crown Agents for the Colonies. p. 254.
  39. ^ "Heaviest Jackfruit". Guinness World Records. June 23, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  40. ^ Eliovsen, Sima (1965). Proteas for Pleasure. Cape Town: Howard Timmons. p. 64.
  41. ^ "Sunflower contest". Organic Gardening and Farming. 10 (12): 56–57.
  42. ^ Platt, Rutherford (1960). This Green World. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 54.
  43. ^ Van der Spuy, Una (1971). Flowers of South Africa foe the Garden. Johannesburg: Hugh Keartland. p. 158 plus photo p. 157.
  44. ^ Long Beach Independent Press Telegram (January 24, 1970) p. B3
  45. ^ anonymous. "Genera in the Zingiberales. Department of Botany. Smithsonian Institution". Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  46. ^ anonymous (August 20, 2021). "Flora & Fauna Web - Ficus dammaropsis". Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  47. ^ Begonian Vol. 14 Issue 11 (November 1947) page 220.
  48. ^ Everard, Barbara; Morley, Brian D. Ph.D. (1970). Wild Flowers of the World. New York: G.P. Putnqam's Sons. p. Plate 82 with caption.
  49. ^ correspondance from Prof. (emeritus) Willim Meijer of the University of Kentucky at Lexington.
  50. ^ Marent, Thomas and Ben Morgan (2006). Rainforest. New York: DK Publications Inc. p. 253 caption.
  51. ^ Meijer loc cit,
  52. ^ "Rafflesia in Bloom". April 2004. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
  53. ^ "World's Biggest Rafflesia Found in Kelantan". August 11, 2007. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
  54. ^ Tun, Jang (March 7, 2008). "R.kerrii: World's Biggest Rafflesia Found in Kelantan". Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  55. ^ 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.
  56. ^ Correspondance with Prof. (emeritus) Howard W. Pfeifer of the Univ. of Connecticut.
  57. ^ Marent and Morgan loc.cit.
  58. ^ Rohwer, Prof. Dr. Jens G. (2002). Tropical Plants of the World. New York: Sterling Pub. Co. Inc. p. 208.
  59. ^ Harrison, Neil A. (November 24, 1988). "Aristolochia nana S. Watson". Retrieved June 7, 2005. This is an herbarium sheet.
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