Titan Arum

Big Bucky is ready to pop at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The growers of a rare flower, the giant but malodorous titan arum or “corpse flower,” say a large plant that blossomed four years ago is about to blossom again, and may be on a record-setting pace for cultivated titan arums.

So when will the flower open? “Wednesday should be the critical day,” says greenhouse director Mo Fayyaz, “but I just can’t predict that for sure.”

The titan arum is native to the equatorial rain forests of Indonesia. It is a relatively rare plant and is known for its capacity to generate an overpowering smell of carrion when it blooms. The smell attracts pollinators such as flies, beetles and bees. In captivity, there have been only an estimated 65 blooms since 1889, when the first cultured titan arum blossomed at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, England.

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