[Angie10]

One by one, visitors to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden pulled out their phones snap pictures of the rare blooming plant before leaning in to brave a whiff of its infamously putrid scent, which resembles that of rotting flesh.
The rare Amorphophallus gigas — a relative of the Amorphophallus titanum, commonly known as the corpse flower — has bloomed for the first time since arriving in Brooklyn in 2018. Native to Sumatra, the plant is known for its height and carrion scent, which it uses to attract pollinators.

It has hundreds of flowers, both male and female, inside the bloom, and it can take years between blooming events, said gardener Chris Sprindis, who first noticed the inflorescence, or cluster of flowers, around New Year’s Eve. The bloom will last only a few days before it collapses.
The plant is in very few other botanical gardens worldwide, but there was a similar scene this week on the other side of the globe at a greenhouse in Sydney as thousands waited in three-hour lines to experience the fragrance emanating from a blooming Amorphophallus titanum, evoking gym socks and rotting garbage.

It was the first time in 15 years that a corpse flower has bloomed at the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden. That plant’s flower was also spotted in December, when it was 10 inches (25 cm) high, and by Thursday it was over 5 feet (1.6 meters) tall.

Do you know this strange flower? Have you smelt it, and is it true it smells like a rotting corpse? If not, would you want to take a whiff to be sure? I’m not so sure I would because I’d probably puke LOL

For the compete story: https://shorturl.at/gsEpl

[ptrikha21]

I have heard about it for the first time.
And well, no thanks. I would not try to put my nostrils and in turn my mind & brain to its "unpalatable" smell !!

[Netherrealmer]

Its rafflesia, It is a carnivorous flower that eats insects and sometimes rats.

[Angie10]

I have heard about it for the first time.
And well, no thanks. I would not try to put my nostrils and in turn my mind & brain to its "unpalatable" smell !!

I have to say, I wondered why anyone would want to smell something so disgusting!!

--- 27 Jan 2025, 13:05 ---

Its rafflesia, It is a carnivorous flower that eats insects and sometimes rats.

Good Lord, no wonder it reeks!

[ptrikha21]

Its rafflesia, It is a carnivorous flower that eats insects and sometimes rats.

Looks quite distinct and may be its appearance alerts people from trying to go close to this one.

[Netherrealmer]

this is also a rafflesia fruit but not edible to humans only to birds



but it has a part humans cook as veggie
Humans eat the bud.

[cmoneyspinner]

smells like a rotting corpse? That explains why I've never seen them in anybody's garden.

[Netherrealmer]

Well its eaten in Thailand... Well the buds. and petals.

[Jem Smith]

A friend of mine had one of these growing wild in her backyard (not near me, they don't grow here). She was pretty fascinated. I've only seen her photos of it though.

--- 31 Jan 2025, 08:39 ---

Its rafflesia, It is a carnivorous flower that eats insects and sometimes rats.

I think you might be mixing them up with Pitcher plants. Rafflesia are parasitic (feeds off the host plant) but doesn't eat bugs or rats. The corpse smell attracts flies for pollination, not food.
https://terra-cultura.com/en/rafflesia-the-giant-flower-that-defies-nature/

These are the ones that can eat rats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcher_plant
I used to have one in a pot (not the kind that's big enough to eat rodents, just small insects). I had a Venus Flytrap and a Sundew too.

Edit: the flower Angie10 was talking about is not Rafflesia anyway, it's Amorphophallus gigas, like she said. If you click through to the story you can see it in the video and it looks different. There is more than one species called a 'corpse flower'. That happens a lot with plants- the common names can be confusing so you sometimes have to check the latin name to be sure.