'Corpse Flower' to Bloom in UConn Greenhouse
I might have to take a trip to CT to see this. Although they
do have a webcam if you want to take a look without travelling.
Within the next few weeks, New Englanders will have the opportunity to see and smell one of the strangest productions of the vegetable kingdom: the titan arum, or corpse flower, which features a gigantic bloom — and a mighty stench -- is expected to open sometime near the end of June, at the University of Connecticut's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Conservatory.
Currently, the UConn-based flower bud is more than three feet high and growing by several inches each day. Clint Morse, plant growth facilities manager and the researcher who obtained and planted the titan arum, is estimating the plant will flower between June 28 and July 2. He emphasizes, however, that those dates only represent his best guess.
The fully open flower lasts only a few days, so visitors hoping to catch it at its peak will have to time their visit carefully. The infamous odor of the corpse flower is strongest just as the flower opens, becoming faint, for better or worse, after the first day. Already, gardeners, botanists and curiosity-seekers from across the northeast and beyond are making plans to travel to Storrs to experience the horticultural equivalent of twin NCAA basketball championships.
(via
Collision Detection)
