Amorphophallus titanium-Corpse flower

GS PAPER II: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Context: Over a thousand people queued up outside an abandoned gas station in San Francisco’s Bay Area to catch a glimpse of the ‘corpse flower’.

Amorphophallus titanium-Corpse flower

• Known for its putrid smell, which is often compared to that of rotting flesh.
• This ultra-rare plant is known to bloom only once every seven to ten years.
• The flower is also considered to be one of the largest in the world.
• While the plant is native to Indonesia, its saplings have been cultivated in zoos, botanical gardens and greenhouses around the world over the years.
• It can grow to be up to 10 feet tall and known to be one of the world’s largest ‘unbranched inflorescence’ or a stalk bearing a cluster of flowers.
• It emits a heady odour in order to attract pollinating insects in the wild such as scavenging flies and beetles.
• It was listed as an endangered plant in 2018 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-are-thousands-lining-up-to-see-the-foul-smelling-corpse-flower-7323138/