Giant stinking flower reveals a hot secret

You would think a flower that resembles a 3-metre phallus would have no problems attracting attention, especially if it also stinks like a rotting corpse.

But for the carrion flower, which has the world’s largest flowering head, getting noticed by flesh-eating insect pollinators in its jungle home requires yet another amazing adaptation – and one that only came to light thanks to a serendipitous TV recording.

Read the full story at The NewScientist

W. Barthlott, J. Szarzynski, P. Vlek, W. Lobin, N. Korotkova (2008). A torch in the rain forest: thermogenesis of the Titan arum. Plant Biology DOI: 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2008.00147.x

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