ST PETER — This will be one flower you definitely don’t want a good whiff of.
A Titan Arum, otherwise known as a Corpse Flower, is about to bloom at the Gustavus Adolphus College Biology Department’s greenhouse.
The plant is expected to fully bloom sometime in early May, and when it does, it makes its presence via an aroma that has been compared to rotting meat.
The Corpse Flower is a rare flowering plant that is found only in the tropical rainforests of Sumatra.
But thanks to the generosity of San Francisco doctor James Symon, Gustavus biology instructor Brian O’Brien was given 20 Corpse Flower seeds in 1993. Come May, it will bloom for the first time, a rarity outside its natural rainforest environment.
It has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. And its cluster of flowers can grow to almost 10 feet tall, although Gustavus’ plant is expected to bloom slightly smaller.
“This plant is one of the wonders of the botanical world,” O’Brien said. “Symon decided to go to Indonesia and collect a large number of seeds and then distribute them to individuals and institutions that would be able to conserve this plant in case it became extinct in the wild.”
Because of the plant’s rarity and distinctive odor, blooming Corpse Flowers have attracted thousands of visitors at various locations throughout the U.S.
So Gustavus is expecting company for the eight to 12 hours a typical Corpse Flower can stink up a greenhouse. Anyone curious can catch of glimpse of it right now by visiting gustavus.edu/academics/bio/titanarum.
“This plant is a wonderful advertisement for the need for conservation,” O’Brien said. “The need for conservation, in this case of one of the real wonders of the biological world, and the need for biological diversity in general.”
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Related Photos
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Submitted photo
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Submitted photo
April 29, 2007
Rare corpse flower ripe for blooming
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