The world's largest flower blooms in Berlin's Botanical Garden – and it stinks of decay

The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is not only the largest flower in the world, it also arguably smells the worst: like carrion, and intensely so. Anyone who doesn't want to miss this olfactory experience must visit the Large Tropical House of the Botanical Garden in Berlin-Steglitz over the next three days.

There, the several-meter-high inflorescence of the titan arum has opened – after a hiatus of several years, and only for this short time, according to the Botanical Garden. It's also important to note that the flower, in the form of a large bract, only opens in the afternoon, as the titan arum is a night bloomer. The Botanical Garden regularly provides updates on the current status at www.bo.berlin .

According to the report, the plant emits the carrion smell particularly on the first day or night of flowering. On the second day, the bract slowly closes, and during the third day, the spectacle is over: the inflorescence begins to wilt and gradually collapse. After a dormant period, the plant develops only a single large leaf, which can grow several meters tall and resembles a small tree. After up to two years, the leaf retracts, and the tuber enters a dormant period before producing another leaf or, after several years, a new inflorescence.

The Titan Arum attracts insects with its carrion smell

The titan arum uses the smell of carrion to attract insects to the inflorescence, which normally lay their eggs in decomposing animal carcasses. During their visit, these insects pollinate the plant's female flowers, which can only absorb pollen on the first night. On the second night, the male flowers open and release their pollen, thus preventing self-pollination. To prevent the odorant from "evaporating," the plant raises the temperature in the cob relative to its surroundings. The inflorescence thus resembles an "odor torch," according to the Botanical Garden. The scent is particularly intense during the first night, but significantly less intense thereafter.

The titan arum is a perennial plant in the Araceae family. It forms an underground tuber that can weigh over 100 kilograms. It usually takes several years for the tuber to produce an inflorescence. These can reach up to three meters in height. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the largest flower in the world. The plant was first described in 1878 in Sumatra ( Indonesia) by the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari. It is critically endangered in the wild because its habitat, the rainforest, is increasingly being destroyed.