The Stink on Campus

This isn’t corruption in the administration building, but rather the blooming of a rare “corpse flower” (Amorphophallus titanum) in the campus botanical conservatory. The rarely cultivated plant from Sumatra gets its name from the strong fly-attracting odor of rotting flesh it emits when it flowers, which only happens every 10 or so years. This is the first corpse flower to bloom in Northern California.

Our plant in question, nicknamed “Ted the Titan”, was raised from seed planted in 1995, and the flower bud first appeared around 15 May of this year. The bloom is a very transient event, and the flower lasts only about 24 to 36 before it collapses. Also, the stench only lasts about eight hours. The bloom was predicted to start around 11 June, but it was two days early, starting yesterday around noon. We all went over to the greenhouse a little after six that evening, where there was a small crowd gawking at the 3 1/2 foot tall flower, pictured at right. The stench, which I thought was something like rotting cabbages at the bottom of a compost pile, wasn’t overwhelming at that point, but would become so later in the evening. Ernesto Sandoval, the conservatory curator, was full of parental pride, giving interviews to the press on his cell phone, and making sure everyone got a good look and smell.

Addendum:There’s a RealOne webcam for the plant here. Also, the Sacramento Bee has an amusing editorial cartoon featuring the plant.