# "Hello, mother. Hello, father. The stinking corpse flower is in bloom again . . ." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851 "2004-06-23T18:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/21 "2004-06-24T00:22:38Z")
> [@Bren\_Cameron](#): > > (I’d heard of the stinking corpse lily before, but never seen a photo. That’s quite a…that’s quite a flower.) [Marlene Dietrich] “It took more than one man to change my name to Stinking Corpse Lily.” [/Marlene Dietrich] ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/22 "2004-06-24T00:46:55Z")
[More pics of the “corpse flower”.](http://www.news.wisc.edu/titanarum2001/photos.html) [This one will give you a size perspective.](http://www.news.wisc.edu/titanarum2001/images/Corpse_flower_Berry_4906.JPG) The one in Eve’s link is quite small as they go. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/23 "2004-06-24T00:51:30Z")
Two silly things in relation to this thread: 1. When an update arrives in my email the title reads “Hello, mother, Hello, **fat** …” :dubious: 2. When the last few post have been of the _naughty_ nature, and this arrives in your mail box: > [@Revtim](#): > > Man, that dude must have been _small_! It can be a little confusing without the attached quote. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/24 "2004-06-24T01:23:39Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [This one will give you a size perspective.](http://www.news.wisc.edu/titanarum2001/images/Corpse_flower_Berry_4906.JPG) How’d you like to be a big wheel, dining out for every meal? I’m the plant can make it all real! You’re gonna get it! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/25 "2004-06-24T04:00:22Z")
As I said in an e-mail to my ex when another one of those fellows bloomed: It’s big. It’s stinky. It only comes out when it’s looking for reproductive action. No, not _that_. Then I linked to the photo. FTR, she was already my ex when I sent it to her. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/26 "2004-06-24T04:57:10Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > [Lovely](http://www.jerrypournelle.com/images/riches/p8020006.jpg), isn’t it? You’ll have to forgive me for my botanical tendencies, but yes, I think it’s quite lovely. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/27 "2004-06-24T05:58:56Z")
That’s a mean green mother… Seriously, imagine trying to make a prom corsage out of that thing. Which, come to think of it, sounds like something my high school boyfriend would have done. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/28 "2004-06-24T09:57:54Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Well, it _is_ easy to confuse Allan Sherman with Katharine Hepburn . . . “The stinking corpse lilies are in bloom again.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/29 "2004-06-24T10:22:53Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [This one will give you a size perspective.](http://www.news.wisc.edu/titanarum2001/images/Corpse_flower_Berry_4906.JPG) The one in Eve’s link is quite small as they go. That looks (pot and everything) like the one at Kew. I think there might be a bit of confustigationism in this thread; all of the linked pictures seem to be about the Titan Arum, but there is another plant, also called the corpse flower; [Rafflesia Arnoldii](http://www.bbec.sabah.gov.my/gallery/rafflesia.jpg), which has flowers that smell and look like decaying flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/30 "2004-06-24T10:24:09Z")
The disturbing thing about botany is I was thinking that this thread would be about an entirely different flower that smells like rotting road kill (the rafflesia) when I opened it. I do find it off-putting that nature has seen fit to provide us with at least two species to fit the “gigantic flowers with the odour of carrion niche.” The photos are cool though and if there was any chance I could get to Connecticut at the moment, I’d be there to see it in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/31 "2004-06-24T13:31:16Z")
That. is. so. cool. I would love to see that dead smack in the middle of my front yard. It would scare small children away for weeks! Nevermind the obscenity… I wonder how an obsessed gardener gets her hands on one of these things? (And I thought I was cool growing a pineapple. I’m just an amateur hack.) ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/32 "2004-06-24T13:43:36Z")
Okay, if it starts singing “feed me, Seymour,” I’m outta here. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/33 "2004-06-24T18:19:40Z")
> [@](#): > > The disturbing thing about botany is I was thinking that this thread would be about an entirely different flower that smells like rotting road kill (the rafflesia) when I opened it. This pollination strategy is quite common, actually. One of our (inexplicably) most beloved ornamental trees, the Bradford pear, does the exact same thing. Their blooms are glorious in the spring, but it’s hell to be near a concentration of them. At my old university, the landscapers regrettably decided to do most of the quad in Bradford pears. Most of the time they were quite elegant, having that characteristic tight, sculpted shape the tree is noted for. Unfortunately, however, for a fews weeks during spring, the millions of fly-pollinated blooms in a tight area make the whole place smell like a slaughterhouse cesspool. Amusing. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/34 "2004-07-09T21:26:16Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > [Marlene Dietrich] “It took more than one man to change my name to Stinking Corpse Lily.” [/Marlene Dietrich] [Lili Von Shtupp] "It’s Twue! It’s Twue! [/Lili Von Shtupp] ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/35 "2004-07-09T22:31:30Z")
You just _know_ that those things aren’t going to end up in pots next to the palm trees at the mall anytime soon… ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/36 "2004-07-10T04:10:19Z")
Apparently, the, erm, physiological resemblance was not lost on the scientific community. I do believe the thing is also called the [amorphallus titanum](http://www.ftg.org/blooms/amorphophallus01.html). If you can’t figure out the base latin on that moniker, then I’m not going to take the time to explain it to you… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/37 "2004-07-10T06:36:42Z")
Well, it was either that or Biggus Dickus. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/38 "2004-07-10T17:48:14Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > [Lovely](http://www.jerrypournelle.com/images/riches/p8020006.jpg), isn’t it? Looks very Art Nouveau. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/39 "2004-07-10T17:48:30Z")
Wasn’t there a Simpsons episode that featured this flower? ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851/40 "2004-07-11T21:51:28Z")
We had one in the garden years ago - took a while to work out where the smell was coming from. It was right on the border with the neighbour - the neighbour put Roundup on it because of the nasty smell. Mum was furious. I had no idea how coverted they were! Had no idea how it got there either, it was there when we bought the house, it just looked like another type of lily and didn’t bloom until we had been in the house a few years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-mother-hello-father-the-stinking-corpse-flower-is-in-bloom-again/251851.md?page=1)