Titan Arum: The Smelliest Flower Ever

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 14 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #3,384 in Animals, #78,186 overall

Well, when a flower is nicknamed "corpse flower", you rather get the hint that it's not going to be like smelling roses and fresh cookies to be next to it.  The smell doesn't last long, but while it's there - watch out!

The Corpse Flower On Flickr 

Corpse Flower ~ Titan Arum ~ Amorphophallus titanum  **************  Explore #434  10/21/06 by nana_cindy42

The Corpse flower (Titan arum) about to bloom by zenosaurus

Titan Arum / Corpse flower by sftrajan

Titan Arum, Kew Gardens by Ruth and Dave

Titan Arum [post bloom] - Sumatra by sftrajan

Flowering Titan Arum by Speckler

Watch The Titan Arum Bloom 

Titan arum - The worlds largest bloom

Runtime: 0:39
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The Top Five Reasons Titan Arum Is The Smelliest Flower 

  • It has been said to smell like dead animals...
  • ...or animal droppings...
  • ...or rancid cheese...
  • ...and, yes, the smell has been described as "corpse-like".
  • In the wild, the smell can carry up to a half mile (helps to attract the carrion beetles and flies).

A Short Documentary On The Corpse Flower 

This video is a great primer on the Titan Arum - you won't have wasted two and a half minutes by watching it.

Wow - the biggest flower in the world - Titan Arum - David Attenborough - BBC wildlife

Runtime: 2:28
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Time Lapse Video Of The Titan Arum Blooming 

Gustavus Corpse Flower (Titan Arum) Blooming May 12th Cam 1

Runtime: 0:46
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Titan Arum On Wikipedia 

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "penis", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The largest single flower is borne by the Rafflesia arnoldii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant kingdom belongs to the Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera). It thrives at the edges of rainforests near open grasslands. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still indigenous only to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal,"History and Botany of the Titan Arum" from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (in Indonesian, "bunga bangkai" - bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra).

The popular name titan arum was invented by the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants, in which the flowering and pollination of the plant were filmed for the first time. Attenborough felt that constantly referring to the plant as Amorphophallus on a popular TV documentary would be inappropriate.

Gardening Books Available From Amazon 

You may not be able to (or want to!) grow your own Titan Arum, but these books will help you keep you make your own garden beautiful.

Titan Arum Is A Squid's Choice Lens! 

"The Smelliest Flower Ever" was chosen as a Top Ten lens for June 2008. The theme was "Flowers" - how cool is that?

Thanks for your support of my lens!

Your Turn: What Do You Think? 

Is this the smelliest flower you've ever seen?

Did you like this lens? Have you ever seen a Titan Arum in person?

Share your stories, or your opinions, or just leave a note to say hello?

Thanks for visiting!

California_Dreamin wrote...

Fascinating lens. Speaking of smelly things, I once opened my refrigerator and had this rancid smell waft out at me, and so I informed everyone, "There's something spoiled in the refrigerator."
My mother-in-law replied, "That's my fish. It's a real delicacy." (I should mention that I live in Japan, and that this conversation took place in Japanese)
When I asked her what this delicacy was called, she answered, "Kusaiya." Straight translation: "smelly thing." This certainly is a delicacy that lives up to it's name.
The smelliness has nothing to do with the variety of fish, but rather with the process it goes through in order to become "kusaiya." Basically, it is rancid fish, that fetches a very high price.

ReplyPosted June 19, 2009

Intuitive wrote...

I had just got off the phone with my aunt who had been telling me about how she kept running into mentions of the corpse flower when I read that KimGianterino had included one of my lenses in her A Day of 100 Squid Angel Blessings lens. When I was looking for mine, I saw this first! Couldn't believe it. Great lens, too. :) 5*

ReplyPosted June 18, 2009

bdkz wrote...

I love this lens Patti!

ReplyPosted September 19, 2008

Irenemaria wrote...

Oh I wish you could put fragrance into the lens :) One day for sure I will smell this flower!!! Congratulations to your reward - well deserved too.

ReplyPosted July 03, 2008

enslavedbyfaeries wrote...

Congratulations! Your lens was a winner on the Squids Choice Awards lens where it will be featured for the next two months! (p.s. I tried to send you a message with the "contact me" button, but I kept getting a captcha error so I will try again tomorrow.) 5*

ReplyPosted June 30, 2008

 
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