Beautiful flowers that smell like hell.
Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum)
Titan Arum’s is a unique plant with a unique name. It is derived from Ancient Greek amorphos, “without form, misshapen” plus phallos, “penis”, and titan, “giant”. This flowering plant has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The Titan Arum was originally discovered in Sumatra, Indonesia. They can be found in many botanic gardensaround the world but is still indigenous only to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the Titan Arum is also known as the “Corpse Flower” or “Corpse Plant” (in Indonesian, “bunga bangkai” – bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver.
Starfish Cactus (Stapelia grandiflora)
This unique flowering plant named as Starfish Cactus although it is not related to cacti at all is also commonly known as Starfish Flower.
Elephant Foot Yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius)
This lovely-looking flower grows in wild form in my beloved country -Philippines and in other Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Elephant Foot Yam or Whitespot Giant Arum or Stink Lily, is a tropical tuber crop that offers excellent scope for adoption in the tropical countries as a cash crop due to its production potential and popularity as a vegetable in various delicious cuisines. Elephant Foot Yam is basically a crop from Southeast Asian origin.
Stapelia gigantea
Stapelia gigantea is another flowering plant that is related to the Starfish Cactus. Stapelia gigantea sometimes also goes by the name of Stapelia nobilis and Stapelia marlothii. They share the same trait with Starfish Flower; they both have a stinking smell.
These are flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh.
These are flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh.
Hydnora africana
This peculiar parasitic plant known as Hydnora africana is a plant native to southern Africa. The plant grows underground, except for a fleshy flower that emerges above ground and emits an odor of feces to attract its natural pollinators, dung beetles, and carrion beetles. The flowers act as traps for a brief period retaining the beetles that enter, then releasing them when the flower is fully opened.