TITANIC STENCH :

Get a whiff of this (Sydney Morning Herald, July 17 2002)

The world's biggest and stinkiest flower is in full bloom in Southern California - something that's happened only 15 or so times in the United States.

The 1.35 metre amorphophallus titanum or titan arum, considered by some the plant kingdom's superstar, is drawing crowds to Quail Botanical Gardens curious to smell the odour that gives the plant its nickname, the corpse flower.

"It's the worst thing I've ever smelled," said nine-year-old Todd Fritz, who dropped to his knees yesterday and writhed on the ground in mock agony when he caught a whiff.

Dennis Gulyas, a self-described admirer of bizarre things, said the odour reminded him of an unventilated high school gym locker.

"It's the farthest I've gone to smell something that bad," said the San Diego man, who made a 32 km trip to the garden.

Native to Indonesia, the titan arum blooms only a few times in its life span and rarely blooms in cultivation. For eight hours, it emits a nauseating odour to attract pollinating, carrion-eating beetles.

I think we had one growing in our fraternity one year. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 17, 2002 10:20 AM