The corpse flower is a large flowering plant and is one of the rarest in the world. It takes at least 7 years for a corpse flower to bloom once, according to Live Science. Below are 5 interesting things about this flower with a strange name.
The inflorescence of the flower consists of a spathe made up of small, fragrant flowers and a surrounding spathe that looks like a petal.
The mo has a circumference of about 3 meters, is light green and has white spots on the outside, and dark red on the inside. The flower is about 2 meters tall, dull yellow, bulging at the bottom and hollow inside.
When blooming, the tip of the flower has a temperature of 36.7 degrees Celsius, similar to human body temperature, helping to evaporate, spread odors, help pollinate and deceive insects. Insects, thinking that the flowers could be their prey, fly inside and, after realizing there is nothing to eat, fly away carrying the pollen with them. Dung beetles, flies and other predatory insects are the main pollinators of carrion flowers. The smell and deep purple color of the flowers resemble that of a dead animal, attracting the attention of these insects
Pollen inside the flower.
It takes 7 years for the tree to bloom, and even some corpse flowers only bloom once every few decades. During non-flowering years, the plant has only a single leaf growing from the stem. This leaf divides into 3 branches at the top, each branch grows many small leaves.
Every year, the old leaf dies and another one grows in its place. After many years, the corpse flower also recharges enough energy to bloom. It only blooms for 24-36 hours.
The flower was first discovered in Sumatra, Indonesia in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari. The tree only grows in nature on steep hillsides 365 meters above sea level.
It has five odors: acid disulphide (sweat smell), dmethyi disulphide (garlic smell), dimethyl trisulphide (decomposing meat), indole (human feces) and trimerthylamine (rotting fish).
