Corpse Flower

Quote: Nareed

So it's not in its natural habitat. That's not captivity. If left alone in Sumatra, it wouldn't be freely roaming the jungle, would it?

No, it wouldn't. Sumatra is being deforested and destroyed at an alarming rate. I agree the UCSB Titan Arum is not in it's natural habitat. That is why I said it is in captivity.

Quote: Nareed

So it's not in its natural habitat. That's not captivity. If left alone in Sumatra, it wouldn't be freely roaming the jungle, would it?

Need a "Free the Corpse Flower" T-shirt.

Quote: rxwine

Need a "Free the Corpse Flower" T-shirt.

It probably doesn't even get enough exercise.

Is that you on the left?

The corpse flower is starting to bloom. You can see the base fanning out. Check the web cam. I'm just giddy about about this!

That thing would very much fit in an old Star Trek episode starring as an alien plant.

Mike encouraged me to go visit the plant. I did so today, after watching the online corpse-cam. UCSB is about a 15 minute drive. I parked at the beach and walked a mile to the Botany department green houses. Visiting hours this morning were 9AM to Noon. When I arrived just after 9, there were about 40 people in line ahead of me. The flower had been moved outside (the photo link showed it inside one of the green houses). I think it would be way too cool for a plant like that to be outside much. Today it was low 60's and overcast. The beach was almost empty; usually in July it would be packed. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I got to the front of the line.

A woman who reminded me of Morticia was monitoring the entrance. She let us into the viewing area in groups of 10 and let us take distance photos then up-close photos. After a few photos at a distance, I moved towards the thing. I took a good whiff of the flower. It was not corpse-ish. It smelled much more like a porto-potty that hadn't been cleaned out in a week with a bit of sulfur thrown in. This plant felt like an alien life form. I was strongly reminded of "Audrey 2" and wouldn't have been surprised had the plant started singing (or burped). I expected some sort of liquid inside the plant, some digestive juice, but it was dry.

By the time I left, the line was more like 100 long. I think the flower will be much better later today after it fully opens, but I have a conflict tonight, so I couldn't go to the 5PM - 8PM viewing. I was told that these flowers take about 7 years to develop and open from start to finish.

I included some of the scent in this post using the new [odor][/odor] tags Mike provided. Sniff <here>.

Many thanks Mike. That was an experience I will not soon forget.

Here are some photos:

Thanks for the photos and report!!! I'm glad somebody I knew got to experience this. It means a lot to let me share in your excitement.

I lived in Santa Barbara, I went to UCSB for 2
semesters. 100 people in line to see this plant?
I'm speechless.

Quote: teliot

This plant felt like an alien life form.

It kind of looks like something designed for one of the original (Kirk) Star Trek sets.