Meise Botanic Gardens' titan arum has officially entered the record books. Having grown to 3.225 metres, the plant’s flower is the largest “corpse flower” ever recorded. Under the supervision of a bailiff the flower was measures and turned out to be 12cm bigger than the previous record-holder. This is more than enough to ensure it a place in the Guiness Book of Records.
By Sunday, staff at the Meise Botanical Garden realised their titan arum is a particularly large specimen. Their initial measurement showed that the plant that is currently flowering was some 3.16 metres tall. This was 6cm bigger than the previous record holder.
However, they had to wait until Monday for a bailiff to come and officially confirm the new record.
3.22 metres tall
The result of the official measuring of the plant exceeded expectations. The Botanical Garden’s Koen Es told VRT News "We have a world record! At 3.22 metres the titan arum is even bigger than expected. The corpse plant has gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records."
"We were lucky, but our plants are also very well cared for by gardeners with a lot of experience. They have rightly received congratulations from colleagues from all over the world. They have even heard about it in Australia."