The University of Connecticut EEB Greenhouse has a Titan Arum (aka Corpse Flower) expected to bloom shortly, possibly as soon as next Monday:
It's a little hard to understand the appeal of the rare plant from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, aptly named Amorphophallus Titanum, with its putrid smell and its giant cone-like bud hugged by ruffled lettuce-like leaves. But there's something about its freakish nature that attracts curiosity and wonder.
When the plant first bloomed at UConn in 2004, more than 20,000 people made the pilgrimage to the university's greenhouse on North Eagleville Road.
You can check the plant's daily progress on the UConn Greenhouse's website. (quote and story via the Hartford Courant, picture, which shows the plant's development as of 5/1, via UConn Greenhouse)
Other corpse flower news: there is a plant expected to bloom soon at the Gustavus Adolphus College Biology Department’s greenhouse in Minnesota, and another recently bloomed at Roseville High School in Roseville, California. Kew Gardens had a blooming Titan Arun in April.
More on the fragrance from the Kew Gardens site: "Many of the 170 or so species of Amorphophallus produce a variety of obnoxious odours ranging from rotting meat, dung and rancid cheese to a nauseating gaseous stench".
I have a variety of this flower (if you can call it a flower) in one of my gardens. It comes up quickly, blooms and dies down in a matter of weeks. I know several people who grow them in pots, and make a big fuss over them. and they do stink. Not exactly a flower that I would consider for perfumery, although I have tinctured some very odd things over the years.
Bert Regards, ZZ
I just saw the one at Kew Gardens last week. It was not in bloom so I didn't get a chance at that infamous odor. I can't say I'm too upset about this either!
But does it smell like a corpse? Not that I would know what a corpse smells like to compare.
Scent is highly contextualized, though. The durian fruit, banned from public transportation in Singapore, and from being hand-carried onboard airplane in many Southeast Asian countries, has many addicted fans. Vietnam and Thailand has fermented fish and shrimp pastes. France has French munster (really really bad wet reeking gym shoes of teenage boy who does not wash) and Belgium has limburger (elephant dung). Even the note called “indolic” is strongly fecal at high concentration. So here's my question — is there a universally hated scent? Or will someone dilute the corpse flower down to a weak solution where it will smell heavenly?
TS: Since you have apparently not visited a morgue or battlefield to sniff a human corpse, think: roadkill or an uncooked steak you find hidden in the back of your refrigerator weeks after buying it. This flower does smell like dead meat, baking in the hot sunshine — not even a magician could make anything pleasant out of the aroma. I grow one for the 2-3 ft. shiny purple “flower” the plant produces. Best viewed from afar, K
How cool, I wish I didn't kill all my house plants these days.
Their description of the scent is not appealing, LOL…
LOL — so true. I always wanted a corsage that was bigger than I am.
you TOO?
My God R, we're so much alike…
Actually I disagree. I saw the corpse flower in full bloon at the Huntington in Pasadena a few years ago, and the smell was incredibly strong, but I could almost see where it could be almost pleasant if it just was weaker or had another scent with it.
The flower itself was the most beautiful shade of purple, gradually shading to green.
I just got through reading the wiki — LOL, what a name! An enormous misshapen pecker!
Exactly, LOL!
I would love to see and smell one. There is a plant in DC that bloomed in 2005, and I'll have to keep an eye out for its next appearance.
How fascinating and bizarre! Having smelled durian in Asian markets, I can only imagine how awful this one smells. Apparently durian is supposed to taste heavenly, but I can't imagine getting past the stink of it.
Corpseflower – the perfect way to say it with flowers to the depressed goth in your life.
You know they've engineered some sort of nearly scentless durian? Apparently many people are upset about it. And so true, the smaller varieties should be the goth flower of choice…
One of these bloomed last year (?) or year before at D.C. arboretum. So we all went. Yeah, it smelled horrible. But it was still kind of a *cool* horrible. I agree with Tom — I think you could dilute it a million times and have something interesting.
So from the sound of it, it might bloom again in a couple years. Will have to keep an eye out for it, would love to see one in person.
I'll keep you posted! They always put it in the paper here.
Oh my, this hits very close to home–literally. My friend's mom is in the EEB dept. and my other friend's mom is dating the guy in charge of the flower (that all sounds silly but really–I can get the corpse-flower hookup). I'll keep you guys updated!
Assume you're going to go see it then — do report back!
I SHOULD see it…haha.
Stinky foods and strange methods of preparing food are pretty common all over the world. Aged cheese, Chinese pickled eggs, here in Sweden there's a fermented herring that smells rather peculiar, and so on… Fermented and “aged” foodstuffs develop that fifth taste, umami. I think that's the big deal, pretty much.
Well–it's noe abloom! In all of its rancid loveliness! My friend and her son where actually interviewed for a morning news program about it. It exudes such a bizzare aroma (yes, I suppose that would be ssumed, given that it's common name is “the corpse flower”). If you can imagine skunk caabbage crossed with smelly horse, topped off with acrid slap of like something you'd find in really strong tuberose(with none of the pleasantness associated), you've got the titan arum. The scent is meant to attract flies for pollination purposes. Imitating the smell of rotting animal flesh is probably a good adaptation for attracting flies and other insects.
LOL — after reading your description, I'm sort of glad I got to read it rather than smell it. Thanks so much for posting!