The world’s smelliest plant, the rare Titan arum, has been flowering at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London from Tuesday (18June2024). Each plant takes several years to produce a flower that can grow up to 3m in height, and is then in bloom for less than 48 hours. Nicknamed the corpse flower thanks to the strong odour it releases to attract pollinators (not dissimilar to rotting flesh), the first Titan arum to flower outside Sumatra was at Kew Gardens 135 years ago, in 1889. During its second bloom at Kew, in 1926, Titan arum drew such large crowds that the police had to step in to keep them under control. It can take up to 12 years for a plant to gather enough energy to produce its first flower, and subsequent flowerings take place every few years. These timings are incredibly unpredictable, meaning the chance to see a Titan arum in full bloom is usually rare. The specific plant that is now flowering in the Princess of Wales conservatory last produced a flower in September 2021. Remarkably, as another plant in Kew’s collection flowered just last week, horticulturalists at Kew carried out an unusual procedure. As it is so rare to have two in flower at the same time pollen is usually hand-collected from the plant, frozen and stored. It is then defrosted when required to hand-pollinating future flowers. However, with two individuals flowering in such quick succession Kew horticulturists have been able to use the pollen from the first plant to hand-pollinate the second, using paintbrushes.

Credit: Sebstian Kettley/RBG Kew /Cover Images

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