A boy holds his nose close to the
The smell of this plant, native to Indonesia, is most often compared to that of a “dead rat”, but also to that of “stinky” feet or cheese, reports British newspaper The Guardian.
Its smell is said to be particularly unpleasant and, paradoxically, it is precisely this that attracts the curious. Thousands of people have already flocked to the botanical gardens in Adelaide, South Australia, to witness the flowering of the ‘corpse flower’, which began for about two days on January 8th.
The specimen predictably gives off an extremely nauseating odor that experts liken to that of a “dead rat,” and that other visitors believe is “the stink” near feet or cheese, reports the Guardian.
A rare bloom
Native to the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, the flowering cycle of this plant lasts for several years. This renewed outbreak is therefore an event, especially since the “Amorphophallus titanum” plants, also known by the vernacular names “Anum titan” and “Titan phallus”, are said to become particularly massive during their flowering.
First, “a tiny tuber forms, then that tuber has the ability to grow to a weight of 150kg,” explains Matt Coulter. “Our largest plant to date weighed 75 kg and was 2.60 meters high.”
The specialist stated this Monday morning that the smell should dissipate by the end of the day before the entire structure of the plant has completely withered by the end of the week.
The specimen will then rest for several years before blooming again. This event attracts more and more spectators with each repetition, explains the gardener.
The “corpse flowers” are threatened by deforestation of tropical forests in Indonesia, particularly by the development of palm oil extraction. The plant has been listed as “endangered” since 2018, and there are fewer than 1,000 wild specimens to date, according to the Guardian.
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Original article published on BFMTV.com
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