A second Amorphophallus titanum has bloomed at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It’s known as the titan arum – the flower can reach over six feet tall – or the “corpse flower” for its strong smell of rotting meat. The odor attracts flies, which help pollinate the plant.
The corpse flower can go for years without blooming. When it does, the flower lasts just a few days. Fewer than 160 are known to have bloomed worldwide, in the almost 120 years since the plant was identified by scientists in Sumatra.
Back in May, another corpse flower bloomed and was manually pollinated by Garden staff.
The flower is currently on view at the Garden’s Climatron.
Follow Véronique LaCapra on Twitter: @KWMUscience
