Melbourne RBG’s Titan Arum collection continues to deliver the goods with another 2.36m tall stinky ‘corpse flower’ assault due to unfurl over the next couple of days.
That makes it 2 centimetres less than the Australian Amorphophallus titanum flower height record (and who knows what it can achieve over the next few days?). This particular plant last flowered in 2013.
The giant inflorescence exudes a distinctive fragrance, reminiscent of rotting flesh (just like a dead possum) that attracts its pollinating flies, and the flower lasts only a few days before it collapses.
The Titan Arum is in Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens Tropical Glasshouse, open every day 10am-4pm and for extended hours of 8am-6pm during the flowering period to accommodate the estimated 20,000 Melbournians who will come in for a sniff. (Closest entrance is Gate E on Birdwood Ave.)
You can keep up with the Titan Arum’s flowering progress by following its very own Twitter feed @RBGTitanArum.