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(University of Washington photo credit required)
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UW botany greenhouse manager Douglas Ewing stands next to the Amorphophallus titanum, or "corpse flower." The photo shows the plant in 1998, when it was growing a tree-like leaf. |
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After the A. titanum shed its leaf, it lay dormant for months before the tuber sprouted what would become its flower. This photo shows the plant in late June, about one week before it opened. The tall spadix grew more than 16 inches during that week. |
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The A. titanum bloomed about 3 p.m. on July 7, filling the greenhouse with the stench of decaying flesh. The odor is the source of the "corpse flower" name the plant has been given on its native island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The UW blooming was only the 10th documented instance in the United States this century, and the first west of St. Louis. |
