For the second time this year, the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum), the world's largest flowering plant known for its corpse-like smell, is flowering at the Botanic Garden in Meise (Plantentuin van Meise), just outside of Brussels.
Although a beauty to behold, the titan arum is also known for its very distinct and strong smell of rotting flesh, which is why it is often dubbed the 'corpse plant'. The smell is meant to attract insects.
Every year, the blooming of the plant is a highly anticipated event, and on 22 May, flowering began. However, a giant arum, measuring as much as 217 centimetres, started flowering again on Tuesday.
The giant arum flower flourishing in 2020. Credit: Belga / Laurie Dieffembacq
"Since this afternoon, we have once again been treated to the spectacle of the world's largest flowering plant," the Botanic Garden, wrote in a statement. This marks the 18th time that the plant has bloomed in Belgium, involving a distinctive smell of rotting flesh that attracts large numbers of visitors each time.
Aside from being known as the corpse plant, it also has a more impolite name: its scientific name, amorphophallus titanum, literally means "misshapen giant penis".
Threatened with extinction
The giant arum is a rare plant species found in the wild only in the tropical forests of Sumatra. It blooms between October and March, during the rainy season when an inflorescence that can be more than three metres tall appears.
However, the Botanic Garden stressed that the tropical rainforest is disappearing faster and faster. As a result, the giant arum is threatened with extinction in the wild. During the flowering period in Belgium, the garden draws attention to the need to protect the plant. It is also carrying out scientific pollination experiments to grow more plants.
As the flowering of the giant arum is a rare spectacle and lasts only 48 to 72 hours, the gardens will remain open until 21:00 on 6 and 7 August. The last entry for visitors is scheduled at 19:30, while subscribers (Friends of Botanic Garden Meise), can enter until 20:30. Tickets can be bought online on the Botanic Garden's website.
People missing out on this flowering shouldn't be too disappointed, as the garden is expecting another one to bloom. "A second flowering is imminent."
