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Giant corpse flower blooms

by ARTiFactor on Aug. 11th, 2006
in

Giant flower smells like dead body

The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is one of the world's most remarkable plants. Native to tropical forests in Sumatra, it produces a monstrous four- to seven-foot-tall flower head, which releases a monstrous stench of putrefaction at peak bloom (another name for the plant is the corpse flower!). The species rarely flowers in cultivation—the last time one bloomed in New York was 1939. However, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's ten-year-old specimen has recently begun to flower. It's expected to reach full bloom at the end of the second week of August. Brookland Botanic Garden

The live webcam is having trouble because of too many viewers but I did get lucky once. If you can't get a look live, BoingBoing has a captured picture.

Your Comments, Thoughts, Questions, Ideas

Cameron says:

That's interesting. It almost sounds like the flower is extinct.

posted on Tue, 08/15/2006 - 2:05pm

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