The name "Amorphophallus" is derived from the Greek words "amorphos" and "phallos," meaning "malformed penis."

...from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 200 (and counting) tropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family (Araceae). These are typical lowland plants, growing in the tropical and subtropical zones of the paleotropics, from West Africa to the Pacific Islands. None are found in the Americas. Most species are endemic. They prefer to grow on disturbed grounds, such as secondary forests.

These small to massive plants have a globose tuber. From top of this tuber, a single leaf issues, which can be up to 1 meter long, followed, on maturity, by a single flower. This leaf consists of a vertical leaf stalk and a horizontal blade, which may consist of a number of small leaflets. The leaf only lasts one growing season. The peduncle (primary flower stalk) can be long or short.

Typically in the Arum family, these species develop an inflorescence consisting of an elongate or ovate spathe (a sheathing bract) which usually envelops the spadix (a flower spike with a fleshy axis). The spathe can have different colors, but are mostly brownish-purple or whitish-green. On the inside, they contain ridges or warts, functioning as insect traps.

...again from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For many, the start of an Amorphophallus obsession starts with buying a tuber on eBay. EBay has listings for Amorphophallus all the time. I have come across many for sale there that are simply described as "Amorphophallus species 1, sp. 2, sp. 3," etc. A species 1 from India is not the same as a Species 1 from Thailand. What this means is that the seller has been unable to have them positively identified for one reason or another. Until they bloom, you can't identify them by just the leaves. Even then the flowers of some species are so similar they can't be identified. The only species I know of that is very easily identified is A. titanum. The leaves are so unique from other species that there is no mistaking which species it is.

The tubers of Amorphophallus come in many shapes, colors and sizes. Tubers of the same species may have similar features; however, no two tubers are exactly the same. It's really important to label each tuber so you'll know what you have.

Many people send an image of an inflorescence (or flower) of a plant they own to Dr. Hetterscheid for the purpose of identification. Of all the people in the world, Dr. Hetterscheid may have trouble identifying a species simply from looking at a picture. I have what I thought was an A. yunnanensis. This plant has grown to over 6' tall and 50" across. I sent a picture of it to my friend Ron Kaufmann and he thinks it's an A. koratensis.

On the next page, I list the Amorphophallus species covered on this site.