# Phallic Flower of Hell

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-flower-of-hell/107030>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 3, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-flower-of-hell/107030 "2002-05-03T10:48:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-flower-of-hell/107030/1 "2002-05-03T10:48:24Z")

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[http://uk.news.yahoo.com/020502/80/cy48c.html](http://uk.news.yahoo.com/020502/80/cy48c.html)

Please feel free to share any other botanical monstrosities.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-flower-of-hell/107030/2 "2002-05-03T11:55:48Z")

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I’m pretty sure that science writer Willy Ley did a piece on this. See his **Willy Ley’s Exotic Zoology**. He also did a piece on Rafflesia (sp?), the “Largest flower”.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-flower-of-hell/107030/3 "2002-05-03T12:34:27Z")

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Beautiful, isn’t it?  
My potted Amorprophallus konjac seemd to have survived the fire.  
They were at work last year, too young to bloom. Everyone thought the foliage was pretty, but asked what they were…  
🙂

Oh yeah, the blooms smell like dead things and are pollinated by deaths head beetles, flies and such. Cool.

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**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-flower-of-hell/107030/4 "2002-05-03T14:25:02Z")

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Does it have to be botanical? Cuz then we can’t talk about this [giant octopus](http://dsc.discovery.com/news/reu/20020325/octopus.html)!

But then, there’s always [Kudzu: The Vine that Ate the South](http://www.cptr.ua.edu/kudzu/). Creepy! Literally!

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**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-flower-of-hell/107030/5 "2002-05-03T18:55:56Z")

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There’s suppose to be a flower that only blooms every 10 yrs. or something, and smells like rotting flesh.