6/6: Corpse Flower (thx serge)

[Undertoad]

With a Latin name of "Amorphophallus titanum" - which sounds like a joke - this flower is called the "corpse flower" for its smell. The stink from the bloom can be detected for over a half-mile.

It's from the rainforests of Sumatra, and fewer than 15 of these have ever bloomed in the US. This one is at the U of Wisconsin and they have thoughfully provided a webcam for the amusement of the rest of the world:

http://arum.doit.wisc.edu/

The plant has been there for seven years and will bloom any day. (I couldn't wait for that to happen to post the image. I'm too lazy.)

When a similar specimen flowered at Kew Gardens, in London, police had to be called in to control the crowd.

Thanks to serge for sending along the link.

(Dinara, will there be one of these at the community garden any time soon?)