My guest is UCSC Arboretum Director, Martin Quigly, who waxes eloquent about the qualities of Amorphophallus Titanum, the saga of its blooming, and the crowds that came to see and smell it. The corpse flower was the main attraction on Tuesday at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum after flowering against expectations. Arboretum officials had all but given up hope of the event when on Saturday they posted on their social media that “After careful consideration, we reached the conclusion that our Corpse Flower is truly a corpse. We do not believe it is going to bloom after all.” They were about to dissect it when it began blooming again The plant, which attracted the attention of thousands, began flowering late Monday night. The titan arum — otherwise known as the “corpse flower” — is native to Indonesia, Sumatra and Borneo and is one of the largest flowers in the world. When it opens, the corpse flower emits an odor like that of rotting flesh, attracting flies and beetles that pollinate the flowers. Corpse flowers can grow for as long as a decade before flowering and then finish the process in a matter of hours.
