The corpse flower Titan Arum is native to Indonesia's Sumatra, but is becoming scarce due to logging, farming, and the flower's use as an aphrodisiac. The plant itself is quite spectacular, reaching heights of twelve feet, but the flower is even more amazing. A plant blooms once every 6-10 years. The flower is over 5 feet tall and 4 feet across. It has a huge phallic-like spadix emerging from the center of the flower, which may partially explain the flower's use as an aphrodisiac. The stench from the bloom, often compared to rotting animal flesh, is intended to attract carrion eating beetles to the flower in order to pollinate it.
Much has been made of recent flowerings in the United States. Less than twenty bloomings have been recorded here since the 1930s, and hundreds of people line up to see...and smell this spectacular event. The blooming of a Titan Arum in August of 1999 at the Huntington Library in San Marino drew thousands of visitors. The most recent blooming was May 8, 2001 at the University of Washington botany greenhouse where a plant that has been nurtured from a seed for six years and two months finally flowered.