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An Unforgettable Bloom
How an other-worldly plant inspired my journey from literature major to aspiring scientist
I smelled the flower before I saw it. The stench was reminiscent of an old garbage bin, rotten and sour, and the air that carried it was warm against my skin. The smell was revolting to me, but to the pollinators of this particular flower a rose by any other name would not smell nearly as sweet.
The chemical components that make up this plant’s putrid perfume — trimethylamine, isovaleric acid, dimethyl trisulfide, indole, and a few others that are just as unpronounceable — are responsible for the characteristic smells of rotting fish, sweaty socks, old cheese, and feces. An unappetizing combination to a human like me, but as irresistible as roadkill to any insects looking for a meal. The distinctive smell is what gives the infamous corpse flower its name.
But this clever plant does more than simply stink. To lure in visitors, the corpse flower generates an enormous amount of heat during its bloom, raising the internal temperature of its cream-colored, pillar-like spadix to a whopping 36–38 degrees Celsius. Bursts of warm air spread the smell, attracting flies, dung beetles, and other hungry insects toward the plant. Upon arriving, the unusual pollinators are welcomed into wrinkled red leaf folds designed…
