A young titan arum is set to flower soon at Meise Botanical Garden. The foul-smelling plant consistently attracts large numbers of visitors.
“This is the first specimen we have grown ourselves, which makes it very special,” says spokesperson Koen Es.
The previous titan arum lilies came from other botanical gardens and were brought to the Botanical Garden, where more than 20 have bloomed since 2008. This young specimen is the result of pollination in 2017, when two titan arums happened to flower at the same time. Almost nine years later, the plant is ready for its first flowering.
It is difficult to predict exactly when flowering will begin, though it is expected to happen within 10 to 14 days.
“As soon as the female flowers are ready for pollination, the inflorescence heats up and the plant emits a smell reminiscent of rancid cheese and rotten fish,” says Es. “That’s why the Indonesians also call it the corpse plant.”
The blooming itself is also very unusual. Es: “The plant flowers only rarely and the flowering period lasts barely 72 hours. During that short period, the plant must be pollinated, and to achieve this it produces its distinctive odour.”