Monday, February 18, 2008

"Rotting flesh" flower

We were in Cambridge in September 2004 when the Titan arum at the Cambridge University's Botanical Garden bloomed for the first time in 20 years. A native of Sumatra, this giant flower (largest flower stalk in the world) is famous for it's odor--- the smell of rotten flesh. This odor is used by the plant to attract pollinators like beetles and flies. We were really lucky because the bloom lasts for only 2-3 days. This event is so rare that you can even find in wikipedia a list of all known publicised Titan arum blooms in cultivation!

Technorati tags:

1 Comment:

  1. Nina said...
    Didn't we have this flower somewhere in the Philippines also?

Post a Comment