If honeysuckle is just too sweet, and gardenia turns your stomach, maybe Mr. Stinky's smelly sister, a titan arum, is more up your alley. You may remember the first titan arum, "Mr. Stinky" at Miami's Fairchild Tropical Garden that smells like a dead elephant. Well, this largest flower in the world has a sister named "Alice" currently ready to bloom at the botanic garden. Alice was grown from a seed and has just dropped a sheath so she's ready to bloom in all of her putrescent glory by Friday. The giant flower is sometimes called the corpse plant and emits a horrific odor to attract a special beetle. The bloom generally lasts for three days and you can see Alice without having to smell her at www.fairchildgarden.org. But avid flower lovers are flocking by the hundreds to the tropical garden hoping to be the first to get a deep whiff of Alice when she blooms.
Am I the only one who thinks this is God's idea of a practical joke? I just want some seeds so I can plant them in my loud neighbor's house...
Hey, people like Limberger cheese, too.
Posted by: Bithead | May 11, 2005 at 10:48 AM