Unspeakably stinky and unpredictable: two corpse flowers are blooming in the U.S.

[usonian]

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/06/1186289347/corpse-flower-bloom-california-where-to-see-livestream-san-diego-francisco

One is at San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers, while the other is at the San Diego Botanic Gardens.

"

The Titan Arum, or corpse flower, has become a rockstar in the plant world for its unpredictable displays, and more notoriously, its putrid stench of rotting flesh.

What is it? The very large flowering plant is related to the calla lily, and in fact looks like a supersized and more macabre version, with a large central spike surrounded by a frilly maroon skirt of a leaf.

The Titan Arum is native only to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, but has become even more difficult to see in the wild due to habitat loss. In the last few decades, advances in technology and horticultural knowledge have allowed botanical gardens to cultivate the corpse flower more widely.

If you're not familiar with why the flower has its distinctive name – when the corpse flower unfurls, tiny male and female flowers at the base of its large central spike emit a putrid odor, akin to rotting meat and stinky laundry.

[unc70]

1. Another is blooming in Raleigh at NC State

[usonian]

4. NPR is missing a lot of these? Wow.

Last edited Sat Jul 8, 2023, 04:55 PM - Edit history (1)

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. Incomplete is not the same thing as wrong

Just sayin

[usonian]

7. Changed it.

SOMEONE is alert today!

I'm trying to migrate off Evernote today, and that is blowing a few fuses in the brain.

[Goonch]

2. 👇👇👇👁️👁️

[Jirel]

3. I'm amused about the claimed rarity of these.

I have seen several folks in the last few weeks who literally grow them in their plain old back yards, celebrating that they’ve successfully opened and sharing pics.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. Article says it's rare to see in the wild in its native habitat in Indonesia

Not that it's 'rare' worldwide. People grow them elsewhere.

[Scrivener7]

8. Looks like something out of Whoville.