Called Amorphophallus titanum known as the titan arum, the corpse plant gets its nickname from its rather foul odor. Let's just say that it stinks really bad.
Still, people turn out by the droves to see the plant when it flowers. Why? Because it's such a rare event. It can take up to 11 to 15 years for it to flower for the first time. After that, it may be several years in between flowering. For instance, the corpse plant in Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh has flowered just a handful of times.
Nicknamed New Reekie by its researchers, the plant is as fascinating as it is smelly.
Paulina Maciejewska-Daruk, a horticulturist at RBGE, has looked after itfor 13 years. She told BBC, "All it needs is high temperature, lots of water, lots of fertiliser, and it's just growing."
"After so many years I'm usually, like, 'Oh, it's gonna flower again, oh I have to prepare too many things'," she sadded. "So instead of being a proud parent, I'm like, 'Is my child ready for the big world?' kind of feeling."
Smelly Plant Indeed
Due to its foul odor and name, some believe that it can cause harm. The researcher said, "[There is an] erroneous belief that this plant can swallow humans due to the petiole pattern, which resembles that of a snake." However, the titan arum is not harmful unless you consider foul odor harmful. The plant's strong smell surfaces when it starts to flower and bloom.
"It's awful," says Maciejewska-Daruk. "Different people have different perceptions of the stench, like rotting fish, very smelly socks. To me, it smells like a food bin that's overflowing."
Others compare it to moldy cheese or urine. Jane Hill, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of British Columbia in Canada, said it smells like a dead mouse. "To me, it smells pungent, but more like a dead, desiccated mouse," she said.
SO what's up with the smell? Well, it's to attract insects.
"Our study discovered 32 new molecules and showed that the male and female flowers emit different types of compounds, and sometimes the same compounds," says Hill. "How did a plant figure out how to smell like a nasty dead thing in order to reproduce?"
