1
P.U., YOU
STINK!
IMAGINE YOU ARE H I K ING THROUGH A
TROP ICAL FOREST WHEN SUDDENLY YOU GET A
B IG WH I FF OF SOMETH ING NAST Y.
You sniff under your arms. Not you. Then you lean over and sniff at
your best friend because, let’s face it, it really could be him. But alas, it’s
not your best friend either. What can be causing this offensive odor? It’s
the stinkiest, smelliest, most malodorous plant in the forest—the carrion
f lower. And you’ve just rubbed up against it. Ewww!
The titan arum (
Amorphophallus titanium
) is native to Sumatra, an
island in Indonesia in Southeast Asia. This f lower is also known as the
carrion, or corpse, f lower because it smells like the rotting f lesh of a
dead and decaying body. Although it looks like one, single f lower, it is
actually a cluster of f lowers on a stalk, together called an inf lorescence.
The inf lorescence’s disgusting smell might prevent most animals from
approaching the f lowers to eat them—and will certainly keep away most
sane people. Carrion f lies and beetles, however, are attracted to the smell
of rotting, dead animals, on which they lay their eggs. They can’t race
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N I N J A P L A N T S
