Corpse Flowers: Stink, Stank, and Stunk are drawing the crowds at the Huntington.
Stink peaked the evening before my visit smelling like dirty diaper. By the time I arrived, the smell had reduced to that of brussel sprouts.
The size alone is dramatic and these were small titans! The tallest bloom on record is TEN FEET TALL. These blooms at the Huntington stood at a bit over three feet tall. They look like extraterrestrial flowers.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum
They very rarely bloom when cultivated but when they do, it's a big stink!!! You have less than 36 hours to see the flower open. R and I made a mad dash to the gardens between my commitments this past Friday.
People oooh'd and ahhh'd and breathed in deeply and happily. It didn't smell like death. We enjoyed a bloom yet missed the gag phase. Stink is this week's star but Stank and Stunk are now on bloom watch; the unusually hot muggy weather factoring in the rare occasion of successive blooming. The last bloom was four years ago!
Stank and Stunk are now on the wings. If you want to catch a corpse flower bloom, you still have a chance. Visit the Huntington!
JNET
