Awesome Creepy Plant - Smelly Corpse Flower

Did you know the titan arum flower smells like a rotting corpse? This plant (Amorphophallus titanum) is also called the corpse flower or carrion flower. As the enormous flower blooms, it gives off a strong scent people often describe as similar to rotting meat.

The plant has evolved this particular scent because it attracts its main pollinators, including carrion beetles and flesh flies that normally feed on animal carcasses. This plant is native to the rainforests on the island of Sumatra (in Indonesia).

Although the blooming portion looks like one huge flower, it is actually a massive cluster of tiny flowers, called an inflorescence. It is the largest non-branching inflorescence in the world. The "flower" itself grows to 3 meters (10 feet) tall.

Interestingly, you can buy seeds for this plant at Amazon. Keep in mind, though, that it takes about ten years for one "flower" to bloom!

Photo Credits:
- Corpse flower - Credits: US Botanic Garden., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons