Environment

Corpse Flower Blooms, Huntington Botanical Gardens: Video, Photos

by tvtayber | June 19, 2009 at 10:16 am

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Thousand people gathered yesterday to see the epic “Corpse Flower”, the largest single flower in the world bloom at Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA.

The titan arum, or Corpse Flower, is gigantic, measuring up to 3 meters in length and stinking of a pungent rotting flesh aroma that has been likened to the smell of road kill.

The Corpse Flower hasn’t bloomed since 2002 and lasts only a day or two. The flower has already begun to close and its petals have already started to wilt.

“It’s a very brief and very beautiful and very smelly moment at the same time,” Blackburn said. “It might be done for the next decade.”

The flower is native to the rain forests of Sumatra island, in western Indonesia, and though it is nicknamed the corpse flower because of its smell, its shape inspired its official name: Amorphophallus titanum, which roughly translates to "large, shapeless phallus," Blackburn said.

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smacey33

at 08:46 on June 23rd, 2009

This is one of two corpse flowers located at the University of California, Davis. (amorphophallus arum) For more information on the UC Davis corpse flowers, visit: http://greenhouse.ucdavis.edu/conservatory/

smacey33 has contributed a photo to this story.