The rare corpse plant, famous for its gigantic size and a putrid rotten stench, is once again blooming in the Meise Botanic Garden, just outside of Brussels.
Each year, the Titan Arum or Amorphophallus titanum flower’s blooming is highly anticipated within the world-famous botanical garden, located north of the capital in Flemish Brabant.
This time around, the occasion is even more special than usual. A 121 cm baby corpse plant has burst into bloom for the first time, nine years after its birth.
This year's unique baby corpse plant is smaller than usual at just 121cm tall. Credit: Meise botanic garden
The baby flower’s existence is a result of a "miraculous" pollination that happened in 2017, when two other flowers in the garden bloomed at the same time. The blossoming of Titan Arum is notoriously difficult to achieve, requiring a perfect temperature, humidity and nutrients.
Moreover, this marks the first time that the botanic garden was able to manage the plant's entire life cycle on its own grounds – from pollination to blossom.
Visitors who want to chase a glimpse of the “world’s biggest unbranched inflorescence” will have to act quickly as the blooming lasts anywhere from 48 to 72 hours. But be warned, the beauty of the majestic flower comes along with a powerful smell compared to rotting flesh.
Starting Wednesday 27 May, the Meise garden will showcase the corpse flower during its regular working hours. It is housed within the Plant Palace's Rainforest greenhouse, a special part of the complex serving the needs of endangered species.
Coming from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the Titan Arum is in danger of extinction due to rapid deforestation connected to palm oil plantations. Importantly, the mission of the Meise botanical garden is not just to show the flower for fun; their researchers and botanists conduct conservation efforts and ask the public for donations to fund their work.
The Meise botanical garden covers a sprawling 92-hectare territory, one of the biggest in the world, within the historic Bouchout Castle estate. It is the home of about 18,000 plant species, which is roughly 6% of all known flora on Earth.
