The Corpse Flower Blooming at The Huntington Gardens
Filed Under (California, Museums) by Z on 12-06-2009
Tagged Under : Announcement, Learnings, nature
Most of you may know that the MOMster and I have are members of The Huntington Library. As such, we get special perks including updates on the infamous Corpse Flower! This flower is called titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum which basically means giant p3n1s! I’ve seen the famed flower and it DOES look like one, more so now that it’s not in full bloom! Quick trivia: It’s called bunga bangkai in Indonesia. What I find to be interesting is that these words mean the same in Filipino! (bunga means fruit and bangkai [bankay in Filipino] means corpse).
This flower is closely related to the calla lily due to its inflorescence and is indigenous to Sumatra. I read a pamphlet at The Huntington about their flower and it looks like they have a few plants in their greenhouse. Since this flower only blooms only a few times and NOT every year, the act of blooming is hailed as a celebration. Of course I’m being dramatic but when they bloom they do cause quite a stir.
We went there last Tuesday for a special preview for Huntington members only and the flower itself is not yet in full bloom. It is already pretty large but it still doesn’t stink because they only emit their rotting smell when in full bloom. The Library did provide a small squeeze bottle in their display and if you’re brave enough sniff the lovely perfume that is the Corpse Flower’s smell. Naturally, I gave it a whiff and peeeeeeeeeyyyyyeeeeeeeewwwww! It was definitely stinky!
I knew that the flower was at The Huntington but I never expected it to bloom this year! I can’t wait to see it in all it’s glory! Below is a photo of the flower in full bloom from Wikipedia.
