Welcome addition to the garden

It is hot here in Southern California, like a lot of the country and I decided to give some of my plants in the garden a drink this afternoon. 

As I wandered by squirting the philodendron I wondered what the hell that was in the middle? 

Such a beautiful flower. 

Did a calla lily somehow invade its space? No...

How lovely!

And why hadn't I ever seen it before?

Have I been sleepwalking or worse, brain dead?

And what else have I missed?

The I did a little research and have decided to give myself a pass. 

It turns out that they take fifteen or sixteen years to reach sexual maturity and bloom. 

Mother plant is fairly massive.

This might be the first time it has bloomed?

 I will check with Leslie, who usually waters this part of the garden and keeps better tabs on it. 

Perhaps she has seen it bloom before?

There are more unopened blooms to enjoy.

They are gigantic, about 18" inches tall. 

Quite phallic.

I am not sure of the exact variety but some cultivar of philodendron bipinnatifidum, I would think.

Going to have to keep tabs on this one.