World's smelliest 'corpse flower' blooms for two days
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Flowers may be used to show someone you care, but it's unlikely many people would appreciate receiving this floral behemoth.
The Titan arum is the world's largest, smelliest flower and after two years of waiting, a specimen at the Eden Project in Cornwall has finally bloomed.
The 9ft 3in-tall (2.8 metre) plant is only expected to live for the next 48 hours - and just missed out on breaking the project's Titan record by 3.5 inches.
The Titan arum is the world's largest, smelliest flower and a specimen at Cornwall's Eden Project, pictured with expert Tim Grigg, bloomed earlier today. The 9ft 3in-tall (2.8 metre) plant is only expected to live for the next 48 hours - and just missed out on breaking the project's Titan record by just 3.5 inches
WHAT IS THE 'CORPSE FLOWER'?
The Titan Arum is native to Sumatra and is a distant relative of the Arum lily called 'Lords and Ladies'.
When it is ready to be pollinated the giant flower heats up, giving off the smell that is a mixture of dimethyl disulphide and dimethyl trisulphide.
This pungent smell is similar to the stench produced by rotting bodies, and as a result the plant is also known as the 'corpse flower'.
The two noxious substances attract insects and once they land on the leaves, the plant closes over and covers them in pollen so it can cross-pollinate itself to reproduce.
As big as it is, the Eden Project's specimen has some way to go until threatens the world record for tallest Titan Arum, which belongs to a 10ft (3.1-metre) mammoth grown in New Hampshire in 2010.
According to gardeners at the attraction, near St Austell in Cornwall, the plant was growing at a rate of between six and eight inches (15cm and 20cm) a day earlier this week.
They had expected it to flower either over the weekend or early next week - almost a year to the day since the last one bloomed - but it arrived early.
It is the ninth Titan to flower at Eden, but is the first one to bloom twice.
Titan arums normally live for between seven and 10 years before flowering for as little as 48 hours and then dying.
This plant is a first for Eden as the project's resident expert Tim Grigg cut the flower back after it first bloomed in 2011, and to his amazement it flowered again.
In 2011, it claimed the title of Eden's biggest ever Titan, measuring 9ft 6.5in (2.9 metres) at its tallest.
The Titan arum is sometimes known as the 'corpse flower' because of the fetid stench it emits when flowering.
It is the ninth Titan to flower at Eden, but is the first one to bloom twice. Titan arums normally live for between seven and 10 years before flowering for 48 hours and then dying. In 2011, the plant, pictured, claimed the title of Eden's biggest ever Titan, measuring 9ft 6.5in (2.9 metres)
In 2011, the specimen claimed the title of Eden's biggest ever Titan, measuring 9ft 6.5in (2.9 metres). The world record is held by a flower grown in New Hampshire that reached 10ft 2in (3.1-metre) in 2010. Eden, pictured, will be installing a 'stinky step' to give visitors the chance to get up close to the flower
It is native to Sumatra and is a distant relative of the Arum lily, also called 'Lords and Ladies'.
When it is ready to be pollinated the giant flower heats up, giving off the smell that is a mixture of dimethyl disulphide and dimethyl trisulphide.
This malodorous musk attracts insects and once they land on the leaves, the plant closes and covers them in pollen so it can cross-pollinate itself to reproduce.
The Eden Project's specimen still has some way to go until it threatens the world record for tallest Titan arum, which belongs to a 10ft 2in (3.1-metre) mammoth grown in New Hampshire in 2010.
Eden will be installing a 'stinky step' to give brave visitors the chance to get up close to the flower.
Grigg said: 'I feel really excited and proud of this ninth Titan arum flower, especially because this is the first time we have had one lowering twice.
'I want everyone to be able to see and enjoy these amazing plants.'
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