Titan arum (the 'corpse flower')

The world's tallest and smelliest flower

This flower is 3 metres tall — twice the height of an adult! But don't get close: it smells of rotting meat, which is why it's called the 'corpse flower'. The smell attracts flies and beetles that pollinate it. It blooms once in 10 years, for only 2 days. When it flowers in a botanical garden, thousands of people queue to see it!

The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum), endemic to Sumatra, is the world's largest unbranched inflorescence (up to 3 m). It is not a single flower: around the central 'candle' (spadix) are thousands of tiny flowers wrapped in a red-purple 'skirt' (spathe). When it opens the spadix heats to 36 °C and releases dimethyl trisulfide (rotting meat) and trimethylamine (fish) to lure carrion beetles and flies. Underground is a 100 kg tuber (record 153 kg); for years a single giant 6 m leaf (tree-like) stores energy, then comes a 2-day bloom. Fewer than 1,000 remain in the wild (IUCN: Endangered); blooms at botanical gardens (Kew, Chicago, Bonn) are public events streamed live.

Fun facts

• When it blooms, the titan arum heats to 36 °C — as warm as a human body.
• Its underground tuber weighs up to 150 kg — more than an adult.
• It blooms once in 10 years, for just 2 days.