中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Miracle-Gro: The flower opened for the first time in 75 years on Good Friday. |
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For botanists, it doesn't get more exciting than this - after 75 years, the Titan Arum plant has unfurled its leaves and is in full bloom. For curious crowds who gathered, they perhaps realised that a once-in-a-lifetime look is more than enough - thanks to its pungent odour of rotting flesh. The flower, nicknamed 'Corpse flower', bloomed late on Good Friday at the University of Basel, Switzerland and is expected to remain open until Easter Sunday. The eight foot plant, which is indigenous to Sumatra's rainforests in Indonesia, has the largest unbranched shoot in the world. On average, they bloom once in a decade. Titan Arum is coveted by collectors and plant enthusiasts around the world because of its strange blooming patterns. It produces umbrella-sized petals which open to a diameter of three to four feet. Its distinctive smell can be detected from half a mile away. The odour, which is usually strongest at night, is meant to attract pollinators such as carrion beetles and flesh flies. Twelve of them are housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the Princess of Wales Conservatory among hundreds of other tropical plants. When the plants are ready to pollinate, the stem heats up to release a pungent smell, which lasts for about three days. The largest Arum at Kew gardens weighs 200lb and grows at a staggering rate of a quarter of an inch an hour. It guzzles liquid fertiliser and potassium each week to keep up its strength while bedded in roomy surroundings. Sir David Attenborough, who invented the name Titan Arum, was the first to capture it flowering on film for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants. He dropped the plant’s original name – Amorphophallus – perhaps because of the reference to male genitalia. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
沒有什么能比這個消息更讓植物學家感到興奮了。在歷經75年的生長以后，這株泰坦魔芋終于綻放出花朵。 好奇的圍觀者可能意識到這種景觀終生難見一次，因為這種花散發(fā)出的腐肉般的刺鼻氣味實在獨特。 在復活節(jié)前的星期五（耶穌受難日）那天夜里，這種綽號叫作“尸花”的花在瑞士巴塞爾大學盛放，預計花期將持續(xù)到復活節(jié)（周日）。 這一高達八英尺的泰坦魔芋是印尼蘇門答臘島熱帶雨林的本土植物，擁有全世界最大的不分枝巨芽。這種植物一般十年才開一次花。 泰坦魔芋的開花方式很奇特，因而世界各地的收藏家和植物愛好者都渴望收藏這種植物。 泰坦魔芋花的花瓣有傘那么大，盛開后整朵花的直徑達三至四英尺。 泰坦魔芋花獨特的氣味在半英里外就能聞到。這種花的臭味通常在夜間最濃烈，可以吸引腐尸甲蟲和肉蠅這樣的傳粉昆蟲。 威爾士王妃館內的英國皇家植物園（邱園）收藏的數(shù)百種熱帶植物中，就有12株泰坦魔芋。 在泰坦魔芋將要授粉時，花莖會發(fā)熱并散發(fā)出一股刺鼻氣味，這種氣味大約會持續(xù)三天。 邱園中最大的泰坦魔芋重達200磅，而且生長速度驚人，每小時長0.25英寸。 在寬敞的環(huán)境中，這種植物每周會大量吸收液態(tài)肥料和鉀來維持生命力。 把這種植物命名為“泰坦魔芋”的戴維?阿滕伯勒爵士是首個拍到它開花景觀的人。當時他正在拍攝BBC電視劇《植物私生活》。 他舍棄了該植物的原名Amorphophallus，原因可能是這一名字有男性生殖器的意思。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：馮明惠） |
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Vocabulary: Titan Arum: 泰坦魔芋，原產于印度尼西亞蘇門達臘的熱帶雨林地區(qū)，花朵的直徑長1.5米，高則將近3米，人們普遍認為這是世界上最大的花。這種植物一般能活150年左右，在它的生命期內只開兩三次花。它會發(fā)出一種令人作惡如尸肉腐敗的味道，因此，又稱之為“尸花”。 pungent: having a strong taste or smell 味道（或氣味）強烈的；刺激性的 covet: to want something very much, especially something that belongs to somebody else 渴望；貪求（尤指別人的東西）；覬覦 pollinator: （花粉）傳粉媒介，傳粉昆蟲 staggering: so large, shocking or surprising that it is difficult to believe（大得驚人的；駭人的；難以想像的） guzzle: to drink something quickly and in large amounts（狂飲；猛喝） genitalia: 生殖器 |
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