Rare plant with foul stench blooms in Netherlands
STORY: These rare tropical plants smell like rotting flesh
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
This is the first time they have flowered in the Netherlands
In Dutch they’re known as ‘penis plants’
(Rogier van Vugt, Horticulturalist)
“The botanical name is amorphophallus gigas, and amorphophallus means 'shapeless penis'. So in the Netherlands it got the name penis plant, which a lot of people found very exciting so, yeah, people want to see it."
The stench is meant to attract pollinating
insects that normally feed on rotting flesh
These ones are over 11 feet tall
“So people are used to flowers, but they are not used to flowers which are that big. So this is, it's rather of a spectacle. Most people have never seen anything like it.”
The plant is native to Indonesia
