Page "Amorphophallus" Paragraph 7

Once the spathe opens, pollination must happen the same day.

The inflorescence, in many species, emits a scent of decaying flesh, in order to attract insects, though a number of species give off a pleasant odor.

Through a number of ingenious insect traps, pollinating insects are kept inside the spathe to deposit pollen on the female flowers, which stay receptive for only one day, while the male flowers are still closed.

These open the next day, but by then the female flowers are no longer receptive and so self-pollination is avoided.

The male flowers shower the trapped insects with pollen.

Once the insects escape, they can then pollinate another flower.

Amorphophallus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera ( butterfly and moth ) species including Palpifer sexnotatus and Palpifer sordida.