" . . . Such a strange flower—suitable to any occasion. I carried one on my wedding day and now I place one here in memory of something that has died . . ."
STORRS, Conn. (AP) - A giant exotic plant that has not bloomed in the Northeast in more than 60 years is ready to flower at the University of Connecticut’s greenhouses. The “corpse flower” has the odor of 3-day-old road kill, and UConn botanists couldn’t be more excited. Once open, the spiked, bright red bloom even resembles rotting meat, a veritable welcome mat for the insects that pollinate it - flies and carrion beetles. “It looks like something has died. It smells like something has died. It has some of the same chemicals that dead bodies produce,” UConn research assistant Matthew Opel said Tuesday. The UConn flower will be the seventh to bloom nationwide since 1999, although it’s the first in New England and the second in the Northeast since 1937.
We had one of those bloom twice here in Madison in recent years. Apparently the same plant blooming twice in short order is unprecedented or something. The UW set up a webcam to broadcast the blooking to the world. People lined up for hours to see (and smell).
My favorite Trivial Pursuit question must be mentioned here, but first I have to tell you that my sister always calls me Lilly. So we’re playing, and it’s my turn. The question comes up, “Which is bigger, a bicycle wheel or a stinking corpse lily?” I think I was about nine or ten, young enough that I always lost anyway. Of course I naturally answered, “A stinking corpse.” It’s true, isn’t it? Heh. That was technically the right answer anyway, though it was incomplete.
-Lil
Notice the horrified expression on the face of the little girl in the purple shorts. She’s going to have nightmares about that thing, you can just tell.
