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Mighty_Emperor

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Rare 'corpse flower' almost ready to bloom

Hold your nose - unless you're an insect

Donna Tommelleo
Associated Press
Jun. 24, 2004 12:00 AM

STORRS, Conn. - Wait until the neighbors get a whiff of this.

A giant exotic plant that has not bloomed in the Northeast in more than 60 years is ready to flower at the University of Connecticut's greenhouses. The "corpse flower" has the odor of 3-day-old road kill, and UConn botanists couldn't be more excited.

Once open, the spiked, bright-red bloom even resembles rotting meat, a veritable welcome mat for the insects that pollinate it: flies and carrion beetles.

"It looks like something has died. It smells like something has died. It has some of the same chemicals that dead bodies produce," UConn research assistant Matthew Opel said Tuesday.

The corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) at UConn was planted 10 years ago and was part of a group of seeds brought to the United States from their native Sumatra by botanical explorer James Symon.

The plant is expected to blossom in the next five to six days. Until it blooms, it's almost odorless. Already 4 feet high, the flower could reach more than 6 feet high and at least that wide when it opens up.

The stinky botanical curiosity is expected to attract visitors like ... well, flies.

The blossom lasts just two days before it begins to disintegrate, and UConn plans to extend visiting hours at the research greenhouse to accommodate the nosy. For the weak-stomached, a Web cam on the UConn Internet site provides odorless footage of the flower.

The UConn flower will be the seventh to bloom in the nation since 1999, although it's the first in New England and the second in the Northeast since 1937.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0624stink-plant24.html
 
Smelly Flower Attracts Fans in Texas



By The Associated Press

July 14, 2004, 7:45 PM EDT


NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Just about any other flower would smell sweeter, but that hasn't stopped plant lovers from enduring the stench of the rare blooms of the Amorphophallus titanum plant.

Braving an odor likened to rotting flesh, crowds this week viewed the blooms of the plant -- nicknamed the giant corpse flower -- that's growing in the shade house of the Mast Arboretum at Stephen F. Austin University.

The blooms at SFA are the first to be recorded in the state of Texas. Only about two dozen such blooms have been recorded in the United States since the plant, native to Indonesia and Sumatra, was introduced in 1937.

An arboretum research associate, Dawn Stover, said she's enjoyed the opportunity to more closely examine the plant.

"It's been really fun watching it open," she said.

Crowds gasped at the beauty of the small flowers inside the plant which was pollinated Monday from a plant that recently bloomed at the University of Connecticut.

Reaching a height of 5-feet, 1-inch, the bloom's unique appearance, size and odor made the plant the center of attention.

Source
 
Brilliant. I love Arums, they're so sinister looking, I've grown a couple of black varieties. I've also seen wild dragon arums in Greece, they look a lot like smaller versions of this, and have the "carrion" smell, as well as the big long thing sticking out that one of my plant catalogues called its "suggestive" spathe.
 
I'll try to get into town to see this.
Flower stinks up Sydney
07/10/2004 07:49__-_(SA)__

Australia - With the aroma of "overripe Camembert cheese on a bed of roadkill" a rare example of the world's largest flower burst into bloom on Thursday in a Sydney hothouse.

Visitors to Sydney's Botanical Gardens have described the scent of the Titan Arum, also known as Amorphophallus titanum, as like a room full of smelly socks, fish rotting, wet carpet, or a rotten banana.

Alistair Hay, director of the Botanical Gardens Trust, had another opinion. "It smelled exactly like overripe Camembert cheese on a bed of roadkill," he said.

The flowers have been known to grow to nearly three metres high in their native rainforests of western Sumatra in Indonesia and come into bloom every two or three years in the wild, said Stevie King from the Royal Botanic Gardens Trust.

But this is the first time the plant has flowered in the garden on the banks of Sydney Harbour since it was planted as a seed in 1993.

"We had to learn how to propagate it," King said. "We have a joint conservation project going between the Trust and the Indonesian Botanic Gardens, and what we've got now is the first flowering."

Its name means "huge deformed penis", but its common Indonesian name is "bung bangkai", which roughly translates into "corpse flower", said Tim Entwistle, executive director of the Botanical Gardens Trust, who described it as a "big banana-shaped thing with this frilly skirt that opens up upside down".

The yellow flower, standing 1.32 metres tall, has attracted visitors all week long as it prepared to bloom, but not for its striking yellow central column - or spadix - or its crimson-and-green dishbowl-shaped petal or spathe - but rather its stinking perfume.

King said the smell is most potent at night, when the plant sends out its scent in wafting waves to attract insects.

"It needs to attract the night insects to pollinate," she said.

The flower was expected to fully flower in the next two days before the stalk collapses and dehydrates and the plant dies.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1601095,00.html
 
I've seen a wild Rafflesia in Borneo, which is another type of 'corpse flower'... a farmer near Kinabalu had found one on his land and was charging passers-by to have a look. It was impressively massive (about 3 foot across), but despite what they told us at school, it didn't smell at all. It DOES look a lot a rotting animal's burst stomach, though. :cross eye

Here's a picture of one (that's not me, by the way)
 
Not Fortean exactly, but strange and rare enough:
Eden crowds set for stinky treat
A gigantic flower is getting ready to bloom at Cornwall's Eden Project and is set to cause an incredible stink.
Known as a titan arum, the rare plant has recently been installed in a giant pot within Eden's Humid Tropics Biome.

At present the plant stands just over 6ft tall (186cm) but is still growing at 10-15cm a day and could eventually reach 9.8ft (3m) tall.

And when the plant, also known as the corpse flower, blooms fully it emits a sickening odour.

The titan, which originates from the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, is a cousin of the lilies known as lords and ladies found in British hedgerows.

Tim Grigg, the gardener who has nurtured Eden's Titan from a small tuber, said: "It is famous for its sheer size, shape and revolting smell.

"This has been likened to dead rats, decaying fish and burnt sugar."


Mr Grigg was first given the plant to look after in 1998.

'Taken by surprise'

He measures the plant daily and keeps notes on its condition so Eden can share data with botanists around the world.

He said: "It has taken us by surprise because we didn't expect it to flower this year. It's the craziest, most spectacular plant."

It is thought to be the largest structure of its kind found in nature.

In the UK, the plant was first brought to flower at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1889.

When it bloomed again in 1926 police had to be brought in to control the crowds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4421485.stm
I think I read in the local paper today that is has now bloomed (if that's what you want to call it!)
 
zygmunt said:
I've seen a wild Rafflesia in Borneo, which is another type of 'corpse flower'... a farmer near Kinabalu had found one on his land and was charging passers-by to have a look. It was impressively massive (about 3 foot across), but despite what they told us at school, it didn't smell at all. It DOES look a lot a rotting animal's burst stomach, though. :cross eye

Here's a picture of one (that's not me, by the way)

You are very lucky zygmunt! The Rafflesia is very rare and park rangers here can't tell when a plant will burst into bloom.... I have never seen one and I live 2 hours from the deep jungle :oops:

As for the corpse flower, there's one which blooms every May about 20 miles from my home but nobody I know is interested to see it - the reaction is usually "What! That stinky thing!" I myself would rather view it from newspaper & TV pictures. :)
 
'Corpse Flower' Set to Bloom in San Fran

May 28, 4:52 PM (ET)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A giant, stinky flower is attracting a nosy crowd to San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers this holiday weekend.

The titan arum, more commonly known as the "corpse flower," is set to bloom for the first time in two years.

The plant celebrity is world-famous for the big stink it makes when it opens for three or four days every few years. The flower is known both for its scent, which has been compared to dirty gym socks or rotting meat, and its size.

The 10-year-old plant at the conservatory, nicknamed "Ted the Titan," is expected to reach a height of 5 feet.

"It's so voluptuous," said Scot Medbury, director of the Conservatory of Flowers, as he watched visitors pose for photographs with the towering bud. "It's more bizarrely beautiful than anything you can imagine, but it's something that really evolved on this planet."

The conservatory has extended its hours this weekend, bracing for crowds. The titan arum has even been featured in an episode of "The Simpsons."

The plant, which is native to Sumatra, uses its scent in the same way that sweet-smelling flowers do: to attract pollinating insects. But this flower hopes to attract flies and carrion beetles that think its pungent odor means food.

The flower is actually made up of many smaller flowers. The arum lily has a potato-like root that weighs 44 pounds, Medbury said. When its hood unfurls, the deep reddish-purple bloom will last a few days, with the scent peaking on the second day. Then the bloom will collapse and the plant will go dormant again.

"Even closed, this truly is just exquisite," said Tricia Hall of Kentfield, who traveled to the conservatory with her husband, Tom, to see the titan arum. "We were able to enjoy it without being driven away" by the smell, she added with a smile.

---

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle

Source
 
When I lived in Perth, Australia, my partner and I rented a house with a large, rangy back yard, where we seldom went because of the extent of its ranginess (and some rats).

One hot summer day, B and I smelled something DREADFUL coming from the direction of the back garden, which we thought was dead rats. We went to investigate and found this one immense flower. It was definitely an amorphophallus (we found out by asking around), but I can't find out what exact kind it was. I have looked for photos on the Internet, but can't find the exact same plant.

Here's a description (I used to have a photo, but can't find it for scanning):
- dark wavy, scalloped leaves (dark green and purple)
- very dark blackish purple stamen (the phallus part), thick at the bottom, pointy on top, slippery-looking
- a large greenish bulb at the base of the stamen, which buzzed because of all of the flies trapped inside, being slowly digested (I guess like a pitcher plant??)
- stood about 1.5 metres total, very broad leaves, stamen about 0.5 metre.

The stinky flower part lasted about 5 days. During that time--in high fly season--we had no flies anywhere near our house (a blessing in Perth). The leaves lasted for the entire season.

The next year, MORE of these things showed up. The next year, there were even more. (Made me think of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.) Flowering was definitely NOT a rare occurence, merely brief.

We left Perth after that, so I don't know what happened with these things. Maybe there's a forest there now.

If anyone knows the name of this thing, please tell me. I would be interested in finding out.
 
I mean not to be erroneous in my next text but here is what I have to bring to you.

My family friends live in westward ho! Devon (exclamation mark is part of the name) and they have an amorphophallus in the garden. I will have to say that I can only attribute the warm climate of the ocean for its survival but more to the point, it seems to flower every other year. Next time I am there (in the next few months) I will send an array of pictures to prove what I have just said.
 
Corpse flower comes back to life

One of the smelliest flowers in the world is drawing hundreds of people to the Eden Project in Cornwall.
The Titan arum - or the corpse flower - reached 164cm (5.4ft) tall after beginning to bloom earlier than expected in Eden's Humid Tropics Biome.

It is only the second Titan to flower at Eden. It stays in bloom for 48 hours before its central spike decomposes.

The spike heats up and gives off the smell which, while revolting to humans, is very alluring to insects.

Its usual home is the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Horticulturist Tim Grigg raised it from a seedling after it was first planted nine years ago at Eden's Watering Lane Nursery.

A spokesman for the project said the Titan had bloomed particularly early and had attracted massive interest.

Titan arum
Full name: Amorphophallus titanum
Originates from Sumatra
Its nickname is the corpse flower

He said: "The Titan has now gone into full flower and smell and has perhaps another 24 hours to go before it flops over and dies.

"It has created a huge amount of interest here with visitors, we've had schoolchildren and TV crews coming to have a look and thousands more going on our webcam.

"The few that have flowered before in the UK have been later in the year. We think this one has bloomed in February because of the record warmth last year and very mild winter."

Don Murray, Eden's rainforest curator, said: "The Titan is causing a sensation among visitors and we have to let them know that it gives off a unique odour when it is in its final hours.

"The newly-installed webcam will allow it to be seen from Bodelva to Brisbane and all around the world.

"The only downside for internet viewers is that they won't be able to 'enjoy' the smell and feel the heat."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6332893.stm
 
Here we go again!

Stinkiest bloom is set to flower

A Cornish horticulturist has impressed his colleagues by raising his third specimen of one of the world's smelliest flowers, at the Eden Project.
Tim Grigg first thought the titan arum, which he had cared for for nine years, was just sprouting some new leaves.

His first titan flowered in April 2005 and the second in February this year.

The current specimen 1.5m tall (4ft 9in) and is growing at a rate of 9cm (3.5in) a day. It is expected to flower sometime this weekend.

The titan arum - or the corpse flower - stays in bloom for 48 hours before its central spike decomposes.

The spike heats up and gives off the smell which, while revolting to humans, is very alluring to insects.

Its usual home is the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia.

He said: "I've been nurturing this flower in a pot for nine years.

"Watching it grow and waiting for it to come into bloom is a bit like being an expectant father, not quite knowing when it'll all happen."


A distant relative of the British lily, the titan is capable of growing to a size of 3m (9ft 8in.)

Anyone keen to track the titan's progress can follow it through the Eden Project webcam.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7084633.stm
 
Mayby babies...! :D

'Corpse plant' makes deadly fruit

One of the world's smelliest flowers has produced a fruit at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
The rare titan arum, also known as the corpse flower because of its pungent smell, flowered in November and was pollinated by the project's gardeners.

It is now producing a fruit head of vibrant orange berries, thanks to the work of horticulturalist Tim Grigg.

But no-one will be tucking into titan fruit because it is potentially deadly to humans.

The titan arum has been nurtured by Mr Grigg for nine years.

He used a paintbrush to reach inside the giant flower head and pollinate it.

He said: "I couldn't believe that the pollination worked. At the time I wasn't sure, I'm really happy and excited."

The head will grow bigger and change colour from orange to red when it is ripe.

Cure hope

But although the plant is poisonous to humans, any seeds will be extracted and used to grow more plants.

And they could also benefit people in the future as the plant is thought to have healing properties.

Tony Moore, professor of biochemistry at the University of Sussex, said: "It contains a protein that is also found in human parasites such as the ones that cause African sleeping sickness.

"Understanding the structure of this protein may enable us to develop new compounds to help to fight the disease."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7183556.stm
 
Phew... what a stinker. Hot weather brings Mediterranean 'rotting flesh' plant to Essex
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:05 PM on 25th June 2010

The hot weather has brought out a plant that smells like rotting flesh in a garden in Rayleigh, Essex.

Neighbours are not the only ones kicking up a stink about the unwelcome visitor, which gardeners Janice and Terry Wallace say just sprouted without warning.
It is commonly known as a dragon arum - or a stink lily - and it's unique and disgusting aroma can be 'enjoyed' up to 40ft away in the houses of the Wallaces and their neighbours.
To make matters worse, the flower is pollinated by flies - therefore the attracting clouds of them.

The Wallaces insist they did not plant the stink lily, it just appeared. Amazingly it has managed to survive the coldest Winter in 30 years and is now fully revelling in the summer heat.

It's scientific name is dracunculus vulgaris, but is known variously as the dragon arum, stink lily, black arum, voodoo lily, snake lily, black dragon, dragonwort and Ragons.
It is native to the Balkan region, extending as far as Greece, Crete and the Aegean Islands.

It is characterised by a large purple leaf and spike and has a very unpleasant smell reminiscent of a carcass.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0rwyfmF2P
 
Where do I get one? It'd overwhelm the folk at the back's barbeques...
 
Downtown from me, at the Milwaukee Public Museum, they have 3 Titan Arums in the butterfly exhibit ('wing', if you prefer). I've seen them close up in bloom and they are really fantastic flowers.

If anyone is confused, Amorphophallus Titanum was re-named the Titan Arum by Sir David Attenborough. It seems that he was doing a special for the BBC and thought that referring constantly to "Amorphophallus" would be offensive to viewers.

More here:http://www.mpm.edu/exhibitions/featured/titan-arum/
 
A few years back, one of these bloomed at the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

It was billed as a "must see event" - so I went.

It was more like a "must not smell" event - the stench is horrible - truly unbelievable - I could have gone happily through life without that experience. :roll:
 
Huge smelly plant in bloom at Eden project

A huge smelly plant at Cornwall's Eden Project has thrilled visitors by going into bloom.
Gardeners at the site near St Austell had been waiting for the Titan Arum to flower which they said was a rare event.
The plant, among the biggest plant species in the world, will usually only bloom for about 48 hours before dying.

The Titum Arum, which is has grown to 2.91 metres (9 ft 6 ins) gives off a foul smell to attract insects.
A spokeswoman for the Eden Project said the plant was known as the "corpse flower" because it stinks of rotting flesh.
Plant enthusiasts have been watching the Titan Arum's latest progress on the internet via the project's webcam.
The plant has been growing at a rate of five inches a day and has taken nine years to get to its current height.

The biggest-ever Titan Arum in captivity flowered in New Hampshire, USA, and reached a height of 3.1 metres (10 ft 2 ins).

The Eden Project, which has grown four other Titan Arums, said the latest one had been their tallest and staff had been hoping to top this record.
The plant originates from Sumatra and is a distant relative of the British lily.
It is distinguished by its yellowy, fleshy spike known as a spadix.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-13627270
 
Nearly two years since the last post:

Could you stand on the stink step? World’s biggest, smelliest flower set to bloom at Eden
7:00am Thursday 16th May 2013 in News

The Eden project is asking, could you “step up to the stink", as the world’s biggest, smelliest flower is set to bloom.
Visitors will be given the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with the smelly marvel, the Titan arum, thanks to a special “stinky step”.
Brave visitors can climb up to get the full force of the icky inflorescence’s odour. Some people have compared previous flowerings to having a smell akin to rotting flesh, others to bad eggs.

A Titan arum typically grows for between seven and ten years after which it is in full splendour for only 48 hours before starting to die.
It gives off a distinctive, unpleasant smell to attract pollinators during this short time. Some specimens have been known to reach 3m (just under 10ft) in height when they flower.

This rare plant, whose Latin name is Amorphophallus titanum, is the eighth that has bloomed in Eden’s Rainforest Biome. All of them have been grown by the project’s resident Titan expert, Tim Grigg based at Watering Lane Nursery.

Tim said: “It’s very exciting to see this beautiful, rare - not to mention incredibly smelly – flower bloom at Eden. In the past, visitors haven’t been able to get the full force of its odour but with this new ‘stinky step’ they will be able to experience it first-hand. :twisted:

“I’m really proud of the Titans I’ve grown and I enjoy sharing them with our visitors. They’re such an interesting plant and it’s important that we highlight how rare they are.”

Titan arums are notoriously difficult to propagate and are incredibly rare in the wild but, in his 14 years at Eden, Tim has become one of the world’s top Titan growers. Besides the ones that have already flowered at Eden, Tim looks after a small ‘forest’ of around 30 smaller specimens which are due to bloom in the next few years.

Once Titans reach their flowering stage, they grow incredibly quickly. The flower that is currently in the Rainforest Biome is currently 183cm high and growing at a rate of around 10cm a day. Last month, it was just a tiny sprout.

In his time working with the plants, Tim has propagated them using a variety of different techniques. In November 2007, he successfully pollinated a flower using a paintbrush attached to a bamboo cane with pollen he acquired from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Many of the young plants he currently looks after at the nursery were grown from this fruit. The Titan currently in the Biome came from a leaf cutting taken from a plant that flowered at Eden in February 2007.

Tim has also been exploring other ways to propagate Titans and will be trying a new technique on the plant that is about to flower. Instead of letting the flower die back, he plans to cut it off at the base once it starts to wilt, hoping it will preserve enough energy to flower up to four times again.

There are no sure things with the Titan, but this one is estimated to bloom this week. Visitors can keep an eye on its progress on a webcam here

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10 ... en/?ref=la

The webcam link on the page doesn't work. I tried finding it on the Eden website, but their link doesn't seem to work either!
 
Another one... with pics.

Monstrous Corpse Flower Comes to Life in California

The scientific classification of this plant is Titan Arum, but it's more commonly known as the Giant Corpse Flower... and there's a pretty damn good reason why it got that name. To begin with, this species, which originated in Indonesia, can grow to nearly ten feet tall, which is threatening enough... but the real horror begins when it blooms, unleashing an unholy stench that comes straight from the grave. The aroma of rotting flesh attracts carrion-eating insects, which help pollinate the plant.

Oddly enough, the Corpse Flower has some dedicated fans among the horticultural community, mainly due to the fact that it blooms so rarely, and they keep a close watch for signs that the ghastly blooms are about to emerge. One such group of enthusiasts has been gathering at the greenhouse at University of California at Santa Barbara all this week to watch one of the school's four Titan Arums in full bloom.

This particular specimen, which the school named “Chanel,” even got her own Facebook page. She's finished blooming by now (the plant topped out at just under five feet tall), but you can review images and details of the historic event from the relative safety of your home... which we're going to assume smells better than that greenhouse.
http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-articl ... california
 
Paignton Zoo's smelliest flower opens for the first time
[Video]

One of the world's largest and smelliest flowers has blossomed for the first time in 12 years in Devon.
The titan arum, known as the corpse flower because it has an odour like rotting meat, opened on Thursday at Paignton Zoo.
It can grow up to 9.8ft (3m) high and is classed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.

Giles Palmer said the opening of the flower, which is from the rainforests of Sumatra, was a rare sight.
"There are about 100 collections in the world where you can see the plant and they can go for years without flowering" the curator of plants and gardens said.
The flower is green and bright red, with ribbed sides and a frilled edge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-33278861

[NB: Paignton's in Devon, not Cornwall! This is the first time Paignton has been mentioned in this thread, although the Eden Project, which is in Cornwall, has now had 5 specimens bloom!]
 
And another one!
World's smelliest plant flowers at The Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh
27 June 2015
One of the world's largest and smelliest flowers has blossomed for the first time in Scotland.
Visitors have been queuing at The Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (RBGE). The flower is due to be open for two to three days.
The giant Amorphophallus Titanum has a strong smell of rotting flesh.

Horticulturist Sadie Barber says she was ''thrilled to finally see and smell" the plant after "12 years of careful cultivation''.
Officials said the garden would be open at the east gate on Inverleith Row until 21:00 on Saturday and Sunday to allow the maximum amount of visitors to view the flower.
Entry is the normal cost to enter the glasshouse of £5 for adults and £4 for concessions with children under 16 free.

The plant, which has the heaviest corm ever recorded (153.9kgs) has produced seven leaves in the 12 years that it has been at the garden, so horticulturists are "delighted to finally" have a flower.
Ms Barber, who was gifted the corm in 2003 by Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, Netherlands, said: "We are thrilled to finally see, and smell, this incredible curiosity of the plant world after 12 years of careful cultivation by the Horticulture team at RBGE.
"The spadix has so far reached an impressive height of 255cm and may even grow a few centimetres more in the next days.
"It really is one of the most extraordinary flowering plants we have ever seen, and great to think that something that grows naturally so far away can be enjoyed by visitors to the Garden here in Edinburgh.''

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-33298143

Two, at the opposite ends of Britain, within days of each other! :)
 
Biggest, stinkiest plant set to flower at Eden
By CG_Mo | Posted: April 28, 2016

14150482-large.jpg
Triple Titans

THREE of the world's biggest, stinkiest flowers are ready to bloom in unison at the Eden Project.
Visitors will be warned about the 'avenue of stench' created by the hat-trick of titan arums before entering the confines of the biggest undercover rainforest in the world.

The titan arums have the proper name of Amorphophallus titanum but are also known as corpse flowers because the odour they give off to attract pollinators is similar to that of decaying flesh.
Horticulturalist Tim Grigg said: "Every one of the 12 titans we have brought to flower at Eden so far has caused a sensation among visitors and gardeners. To have three going off at around the same time is amazing. Brace yourself for the smell - we will have an avenue of stench stronger than anything."

There are about 40 of the plants, whose under-soil tubers can weight more than 75g, at various stages in Eden's nursery so there are lots more blooms to come.

No-one can be certain when they will fully flower but when they do each one will be in its full smelly glory for about two days and then wilt and die.
Last year Eden had three titans side by side but only two went into flower – the other was at a fruiting stage so was not smelly.

http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Biggest-stinkiest-plant-set-flower-Eden/story-29194526-detail/story.html

So there's an idea for the bank holiday... :twisted:
 
We queued to see New Reekie in Edinburgh last year. :D It was awesome although the smell had come and gone overnight when it first opened so the public didn't get to experience that part..
 
Rare titan flowers bloom at Cornwall's Eden project
2 May 2016

A pair of rare "corpse flowers" nicknamed after their terrible stench have bloomed at the same time.
It is the first time two Titan Arum, housed at Cornwall's Eden Project, have opened together, staff said.
The larger of the two blooming flowers opened on Monday, after the smaller of the pair opened on Sunday night.

They only bloom for 48 hours, and give off a "horrendous odour" likened to decaying flesh which attracts pollinators.
The two flowers are situated in an "avenue of stench" in Eden's Rainforest Biome, flanking a third flower which is set to bloom soon.
Horticulturist Tim Grigg said it was an "incredibly rare occurrence".
Pollinated by beetles and flies, the titan arum is a rare and striking flower that usually lives for between seven and 10 years before flowering for as little as 48 hours and then dying.

The plant originates from the rainforest in western Sumatra, Indonesia, and grows on steep hillsides.
Mr Grigg said the plant was rare in the wild and even scarcer in cultivation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-36186658
 
'Worse than one thousand pukes': fetid corpse flower overwhelms New York
One of the world’s largest flowers, Amorphophallus titanum takes around a decade to bloom and promptly dies two days later in a foul-smelling crescendo
[Video]
Nicole Puglise in New York
Friday 29 July 2016 19.42 BST

On Friday morning, visitors to New York’s botanical garden in the Bronx gathered together and began to sniff. They were there to witness one of the world’s largest and smelliest flowers – Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the corpse flower – bloom.

“It smells like lettuce when you take it out of the bag,” a woman yelled from the crowd of onlookers in the Enid A Haupt conservatory. “It smells like the aquarium. Like the penguin enclosure,” another added. The odor came in waves as onlookers jostled for the best spot to take photos and selfies with the giant flower. Some left holding their noses.

Kathryn, an 11-year-old plant enthusiast, said it smelled like her cat’s litter box but sharper. Her six-year-old brother, Toby, said it smelled worse than “one thousand pukes”. Like many others, the young girl watched an online live stream of the plant all week anxiously waiting for its petals to open.

Friday marked the first time the flower, which takes around a decade to bloom and then dies after 24-36 hours, appeared in the city since 1939. The blooming was highly anticipated due to the “gross-out factor” and the flower’s rarity, said Marc Hachadourian, director of the Nolen Greenhouses at the garden. Its petals began to creep open on Thursday afternoon.

The corpse flower uses its foul smell to attract pollinators which typically feed on dead animals. Like a decomposing body, the inside of the flower heats up to help distribute the smell. Its insides are colored blood red.

Lolita Gross, a surgical physicians assistant, traveled from New Jersey to see the flower out of both reverence and curiosity. “I wanted to be able to see it in my lifetime,” she said. “But also I work in medicine, so I know what bad smells are, and I wanted to see if it smelled like what they say it smells like.” To her, it smelled like “faint dead animal”.

etc...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/29/corpse-flower-new-york-botanical-garden-blooms
 
At one time, these corpse-flowers were an extreme rarity. I think Attenborough had to go into a jungle to find one about twenty years back. Now the stinky triffids seem to be happy to bloom in captivity all over the place.

“It smells like lettuce when you take it out of the bag,” a woman yelled from the crowd of onlookers in the Enid A Haupt conservatory.

What kind of lettuce is that mad woman eating? :huh:
 
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