The Devil’s Tongue plant made an appearance in science teacher Mrs. Kathy Clowe’s classroom in early February during the duration of its bloom.
The plant was loaned by PHS graduate Kiki Long’s father, who volunteered the plant for display to allow students the experience of the plant’s unique smells and peculiar look. Throughout the duration of the plant’s stay, Clowe was able to teach her students more about the plant’s parts and how it came to exist.
Devil’s Tongue is a flowering plant from the Araceae family and is found in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Its scientific name is the Amorphoballus konjac. It is also known as the konnyaku, konjac voodoo lily, snake palm, and elephant yam.
The plant has a single, massive, dark-maroon, compound leaf that functions as a photosynthetic engine to recharge the tuber, or root. It can spread up to four feet and can look like and give the effect of a miniature umbrella.
However, the plant’s presence was not simply marked by its physical appearance. Students who were located on the first floor of the Global Wing near Clowe’s room or had classes in her room at the time may remember first and foremost its pungent odor. The plant’s smell has often been compared to rotting flesh.
Senior Maren Petersen had a different experience with the plant’s smell. She noted that the plant didn’t smell anything like rotting meat.
“It was more a sensation of something on the edges of my tongue, like pop rocks or something minty or citrus-like sour,” Petersen explained.
Still, the plant’s scent remained a highlight for many.
“[The] kids on the side of the room nearest the plant had big feelings about the smell,” Clowe mentioned.
The plant’s smell is caused by its need to attract pollinators. Despite appearances, the large leaf is not the plant’s flower. The plant’s flowers, are actually many buds located on the plant’s body. The plant is monoecious, meaning it has both male and female flowers on the same spike. This would enable it to self-pollinate. However, the maturation of its male and female flowers differ, preventing automatic pollination.
Unlike other flowering plants that rely on bees and butterflies as pollinators, Devil’s Tongue relies on carrion flies and beetles. The plant produces this smell by heating its spadix, the spike at its center, to approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This thermogenic process breaks down stored starches to release volatile oils that mimic the scent of decay.
Surprisingly, the plant has many purposes in gastronomy and medicine. The plant’s konjac, the root, has an abundance of glucomannan fiber. This fiber is a natural weight loss fiber and has been cited to improve cholesterol levels. It has also been used as a vegan alternative for certain seafood, made into noodles in certain Japanese dishes, and turned into konjac jellies and candies that are commonly enjoyed in East Asia. Furthermore, there have also been studies published recently about its use in the formulation of drugs and drug delivery devices, such as colon-targeting drug delivery systems.
When asked if she had kept the plant in her room forever, Clowe decided that she would have, citing the relatively long time it takes for it to bloom and smell.
Clowe provided a thoughtful takeaway about the need for self-care. She compared the time it takes for plants to successfully bloom with the time it takes for people to live as their best possible selves.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to always be ‘go go go’ and always be at the top of our game,” she said. “But that’s not how nature works. It’s okay if there are times in our lives when we are not blooming. We are recharging for when we bloom again.”
Clowe also emphasized that simply being able to observe and experience something new was as meaningful as learning about it through lecture.
“Just loving and marveling at the world around us is important [too],” Clowe said.
