Mark's Notebook


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Don't stop to smell this flower

San Jose Mercury News

Friday 27 May 2005, 11:30 am
Keywords: News Articles

By Holly Hayes, Mercury News

A botanical freak show is about to unfold at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

A rare Amorphophallus titanum, said to produce the largest and stinkiest flower in the world, is poised to bloom as early as today or Saturday. Plant enthusiasts by the thousands are expected to troop through the glass-walled Victorian conservatory -- handkerchiefs over their noses -- to gape at the imposing plant and inhale its foul fragrance, a nauseating stench likened to rotting flesh.

The odor, strongest at night, is to attract pollinators, insects such as flies and carrion beetles that normally feed on dead animals.

Those who crowded in to see Ted blossom two years ago described the putrid smell in various ways on comment cards. A few of the more memorable descriptions included "dirty socks," "a stinky refrigerator" and "my friend Mike."

http://www.mercurynews.com:80/mld/mercurynews/news/11751924.htm

http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiAmorphophallus_titanum