When University of California Davis Botanical Conservatory announced that they had a Corpse Flower in bloom we decided to check it out. The Corpse Flower or Amorphophallus titanum is this huge plant that can get to be up to 6 feet tall. People where standing on ladders to get a closer look. Uc Davis has a webcam to keep people updated on the plants progress. They had predicted that he would bloom this weekend but he decided to wait until Monday to start to bloom.
It’s quite the attention getter. When we went there last night the green house was filled with people and a news crew.
It is called the Corpse Flower because it smells like rotting meat. The smell apparently lures insects. The botantist were collecting the plants gases periodically to study what makes him smell. They warned us when we got in that it would smell and they weren’t kidding it basically smelled like a land fill.
He looks like something from prehistoric times. It’s really a unique and beautiful plant. I looked at the webcam this morning and it’s bloomed even more showing a deep purplish red color on the petals. If you are interested in learning more check out the UC Davis website.
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