2nd corpse plant raises stink at Rollins College days apart
After several days of raising a revolting stink, the Rollins College greenhouse is beginning to smell refreshing again as its second corpse plant ceases its deathly odor and begins to close.
Rollins’ second Amorphophallus titanum, also known as a corpse plant, bloomed just a day after its corpse plant sister had closed, the timing of which is an unprecedented and new milestone for the campus greenhouse, said its manager Alan Chryst.
The corpse plant, native to Sumatra, undergoes its blossoming once during unpredictable spans of time that could extend from a few years to over a decade, according to the U.S. Botanic Garden. The blooming occurs when the plant is ready to be pollinated. Once it’s gathered enough energy, the plant grows up to 8-feet in height and blossoms over the course of a day producing a death-like smell to summon corpse-attracted pollinators, such as carrion beetles and flies. The bugs pollinate the flower as its peak bloom occurs around midnight. After a day, the plant dies, and prepares to repeat the process years later, Chryst said.
Chryst acquired the two Rollins plants, affectionately referred to as Adsila and Racine, in 2004 through a plant trade with the Greenhouse Curators of North America. Adsila first bloomed in 2015. Racine did the same a year later, but since then Chryst has noticed the plants seem to bloom more frequently and in close succession, the latter
he believes is due to the fact they’re sister plants.
He’s seen the two bloom a month apart before, but this is probably the closest in timing Adsila and Racine have ever bloomed in succession.
Students and Rollins staff members came in droves to the campus greenroom starting Monday to gawk, giggle and hold their noses up at the putrid-smelling flower.
“It smells like Florida roadkill in the middle of summer after having been left there for a few days,” Chryst said, as he gave tours and facts about the two floral attractions.
Attention for the flower died down Wednesday afternoon as Racine receded its bloom, preparing itself for a stinky future.