Stinky Corpse Flower

by - July 23, 2010

Stinky Corpse Flower

Yes, you read that right.
Stinky. Corpse. Flower.

Since when do the words "stinky" and "flower" go together? And then there's that other word: corpse. That can't be good...

Well, for the Museum of Natural Science in Houston, Texas, it's extremely good. People are coming by the droves to see this little beauty flower. For the past few weeks, morbid curiosity has been getting the best of people when it comes to this flower blooming. Everyone wants to be there when it's fully in bloom and looks like this:
All so they can smell it's sweet perfume.

It's said to smell like rotting flesh.

You read that right, too. People are lining up, cameras and noses at the ready, to catch a whiff of rotting flesh.

It's also called the carrion flower. It's scientific name is Amorphophallus titanum - from Ancient Greek amorphos, which means 'without form or misshapen', + phallos, meaning 'penis', and titan meaning 'giant'.

So basically, all these people - young and old, alike - are flocking to this museum to see and/or smell a giant misshapen penis flower with a scent akin to that of rotting flesh.

Excuse me for not jumping on that bandwagon.

P.S. I guess I kinda-sorta jumped on board when I chose the story to run as my kicker. But in all honesty, I just wanted to see my anchor's reaction!

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3 comments

  1. oooh! i heard about this on npr! i am curious to see it, but i am SUPER sensitive to smells, so i don't know if it would be wise for me to do so. it is WILD. bizarre to the nth power.

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  2. Dude, that's kind of messed up. The world amazes me.

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  3. @drollgirl: I'm super sensitive to smells too! So I'm pretty sure if I did work up the nerve to go see/smell it, I'd probably throw up.

    @Christina: You totally grasped the point of this post! The world is definitely bizarre. Hence the news.

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