Stenchy exotic plant in bloom at Boston arboretum: 'A volatile aroma'
Stop and smell…the "rotting meat".
A stinky plant is blooming at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum, a botanical research institution, in Boston, Massachusetts.
The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum), or corpse flower from Sumatra in Indonesia, has a powerful stench and blooms for just two to three days once every year or two, according to the United States Botanical Garden in Washington D.C.
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"A phenomenon that may take 7 to 12 years to occur, the corpse inflorescence measures 6-to 8-feet tall and blooms over a 24-to-48-hour period accompanied by the strong odor of rotting meat — a volatile aroma that attracts the carrion-feeding beetles that serve as the plant’s pollinators," officials with the Arnold Arboretum wrote on Instagram.
Many who have been in the presence of the smelly plant reportedly compare the odor to decomposed food or "rotting flesh."
The arboretum sits on a 281-acre preserve with particular focus on the floras of eastern North America and eastern Asia.
"This is the first time a corpse flower has bloomed in the Arboretum's research greenhouses at Weld Hill, and we are offering a unique opportunity to experience this rare wonder of the botanical world exclusively to members of the Arnold Arboretum," the Instagram post said.
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Corpse flowers can grow up to 8 feet tall and are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an estimation of fewer than 1,000 remaining in the wild.
William (Ned) Friedman, director of the Arnold Arboretum, told Fox News Digital that he hopes visitors discover that all biodiversity is valuable and worth protecting.
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"Collecting, preserving and studying living plants from around the world is what makes the Arnold Arboretum such a rich environment for scientists, students and the public to learn more about the natural world," Friedman said.
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"The titan arums we grow are part of a global conservation effort for a threatened species—but they are also truly magnificent organisms that manage one of the most audacious and spectacular feats of the botanical world," added Friedman, who is also the Arnold professor of irganismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard.
If you can't make it to Boston to witness the plant blooming, the Arnold Arboretum website broadcasts the flower live so viewers can watch it emerge in real time.
The livestream can be found at www.arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/rare-corpse-plant-set-to-bloom-at-the-arnold-arboretum.
The corpse plant is expected to reach its peak inflorescence in the last week of June.