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5 Things to Know: Rare Indonesian corpse flower blooms

By Alexa Ashwell
By Alexa Ashwell

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tuesday is your first chance to see the rare corpse flower that just bloomed at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.

The rare Indonesian plant is in bloom at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

The Titan Arum is the largest collection of flowers in the world. It’s not only famous for its size but its smell.

  • PRESS PLAY: Video slideshow of corpse flower

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Also known as the corpse flower, experts said the odor can carry up to a half mile.

“Imagine going through a sweaty jungle and smelling something awful and rounding the bend, and there is this 12-foot high flower,” said Paula Gross, interim director of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Botanical Gardens.

The bloom only last two days and draws a large crowd.

The garden extended its hours to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to give more people the chance to see and smell the corpse flower.

5 Things to Know about the Corpse Flower

1. Where does the Titan Arum come from? The Titan Arum grows in the moist, shady jungles of Sumatra, Indonesia.

2. What a weird-looking flower – is it really the largest flower in the world? The Titan Arum produces the largest unbranched, inflorescence in the world. The largest of these recorded in cultivation was over 9.5 feet tall. An inflorescence is a structure containing multiple flowers. The Titan Arum bears a special type of inflorescence that looks like one gigantic flower. 

3. Does it really smell that bad? Yes, but not for long. The plant produces waves of odor that have been variously described as smelling of rotting animal, dung, and rancid cheese. The Indonesian name for the Titan translates as "corpse flower." 

4. How old is the Titan at UNCC? The Titan Arum, "Bella" is now about 12 years old. It was about 9 years old when it bloomed for the first time in 2007.

5. Will it flower again? Well, now she has flowered again (since 2007). The 2010 bloom is smaller, 3 feet tall instead of 5.  Where she goes from here, no one can say.

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