Sheila Preddy

Voodoo lily — have you ever seen or heard of one? You can see this unique flowering plant in the Tyler Botanical Garden in the late winter/early spring. Its botanical name is Amorphallus bulbifer, often known as the corpse flower or voodoo lily. It is also called a snake plant or a Devil’s Tongue.

It is native to Burma and India but it can be grown here in North America. In East Texas, it grows from a bulb or bulbil in shade or dappled sun. A single flower bud pokes through the earth in very early spring, slowly opening into a pink beautiful but noxious smelling flower.

The flower blooms very close to the earth and one needs to look closely for it. It looks very much like the flower of a peace lily and is ready to attract pollinators like blow flies and carrion beetles as well as other pollinators in the area. The odor, which lasts only a few days, is much like that of a decaying body, hence the corpse flower name. After pollination, the flower dies leaving a cluster of berries. A week or two later a single mottled, speckled, fleshy leaf stalk will emerge in its place. This stalk will grow to be a foot or so before leaves begin to branch out. It can grow to be 4 or 5 feet tall during the summer and can be an inch or so in diameter. The speckled appearance of the tall fleshy stalks topped by their green leaves makes a unique addition to the garden.

As summer winds down and fall begins, the voodoo lily stalks start to dry out and turn brown. Where the leaves meet the stalk a small nut-like bud can be found. This is a bulbil. These can be harvested and planted to create new plants. If they fall to the ground, they may start a new plant on their own. Winter brings a period of dormancy and the underground tuberous bulb rests until it is ready to start all over and produce a new flower in the spring. The bulbs can be dug, moved and replanted. The voodoo lily demands patience. It only blooms once a year and often takes three or four years to produce one beautiful flower that only lasts a very short time.

Even though it is not really botanically a lily, the flower is reminiscent of the calla lily. It is an unusual plant.

If you would like to see them, be sure to visit the Tyler Botanical Garden (420 Rose Park Dr.) early this spring and if you would like to try one, there will be some available at the East Texas Master Gardener Bulbs to Blooms Sale and Conference in October.