If you think that something called a corpse flower couldn’t possibly be pleasant to be around, you would be correct. If not, you might just think that its name is so absurd that it couldn’t possibly be a real thing. Well, I’m here to tell you that it is a real thing, and it smells exactly like its namesake when it blooms.
Meet the corpse flower. It’s a rare plant that’s native to Sumatra.
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These flowers are famous for the putrid stench they give off when they bloom. However, the plant isn’t offending your nose without good cause. The smell of the blooming corpse flower is designed to help it get pollinated.
The scent attracts flies and beetles, and that exposure eventually helps it reproduce.
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Being able to actually observe a blooming corpse flower is a rare treat, as these plants are famously fickle about when they choose to bloom. In fact, some wait as long as 10 years to do so.
If this sounds interesting to you, then you might want to plan a trip to the New York Botanical Garden sooner rather than later. For the last 10 years, workers have been tending to their corpse flower, and they now believe that it could bloom at any time.
If you can’t make it all the way to New York City, have no fear! The New York Botanical Garden has set up a live stream on YouTube for you to enjoy.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfV5K_uJ-iM?autoplay=0]
(via Boing Boing)
As of this writing, the New York City corpse flower has not yet bloomed. Officials at the botanical garden believe it could literally happen at any moment, so keep an eye on that live stream!
Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/corpse-flower/
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