Family:  Araceae
Scientific name:  Amorphophallus konjac
Common name:  Devil's tongue, konjac, voodoo lily

Native of:  Province of Yunnan in south-central China

Greenhouse location:  Room C

Like its big cousin Amorphophallus titanum, A. konjac is a perennial that grows from a corm (swollen underground plant stem that serves as a food-storage structure to help plants reproduce and/or survive adverse conditions), producing a large, single, compound leaf. After the leaf dies back and the plant has sufficient resources, the corm sends up a spike (spadix) enclosed within a sheath (spathe). Tiny male and female flowers are arranged at the base of the spadix. (The plant must sometimes go through several leaf cycles before it has stored up enough energy to bloom.)

Also like its big cousin, the A. konjac's flowers emit a stench similar to rotting flesh to attract certain pollinators.

A. konjac is cultivated in warm subtropical to tropical regions in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and southeast Asia. The starchy corms are made into flour and jelly used in a variety of foods.