9 things to know about the corpse flower

Such a big stink over a big flower.

The Amorphophallus Titanum, also known as the corpse flower, is nearly ready to bloom at the Tucson Botanical Gardens in Arizona.

To get to the point of blooming, the flower has to grow for ten years. Its bloom on lasts 24-36 hours.

Here's more about the rare plant.

1. How big is this corpse flower typically?

The corpse flower's inflorescence (otherwise known as a cluster of flowers arranged on a stem) can reach more than 10 feet in height.

The leaf grows on a somewhat green stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets. The leaf structure can reach up to 20 feet tall and 16 feet across.

Each year, the old leaf dies and a new one grows in its place. When the plant stem has stored enough energy, it becomes dormant for about four months. Then, the process repeats. The plant stem typically weighs around 110 pounds. The heaviest stem ever recorded was in 2006 in the Botanical Garden of Bonn, Germany, where it weighed 258 pounds.

2. Where does this funky flower come from?

The corpse flower is endemic to western Sumatra, an island in southeast Asia in western Indonesia, where it grows in rainforests on limestone hills.

Sumatra has a wide range of plant and animal species but has lost almost half of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years. Many scientists blame Singapore and Malaysia for their pollution. It's also part of the same flower family as the calla lily.

3. How rare is this whole blooming process?

In cultivation, the corpse flower generally requires between seven to 10 years of vegetative growth before blooming for the first time.

After its initial blooming, there can be considerable variation in blooming frequency. Some plants may not bloom again for another seven to 10 years while others may bloom every two to three years.

There have also been documented cases of back-to-back blooms occurring within a year. The bloom typically opens between mid-afternoon and late evening and remains open all night. Most corpse flowers begin to wilt within 12 hours, but some have been known to remain open for 24 to 48 hours.

4. Why does it smell so awful?

The fragrance of the corpse flower resembles rotting meat, which attracts beetles and flesh flies that pollinate the flower.

The red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the corpse flower is a piece of meat. The stench has been described as spoiled eggs, a soiled diaper, rotting fish, dirty laundry or even day-old roadkill.

5. The corpse flower's scientific name is hilarious

The scientific name is Amorphophallus Titanum—which translates to "misshapen giant penis." Nick Snakenburg, the curator for Tropical Plants at the Denver Botanic Gardens, says the scientific name was generated during a time when people named plants after body parts.

6. How does this stinky flower get pollinated?

During its bloom, the tip of the spandix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize. This heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects.

Female flowers are usually receptive to pollination overnight since that is when the bloom is open. As the corpse flower wilts, the female flower loses its receptivity to pollination.

Both male and female flowers grow similarly, but the female flowers open first. Then, a day or two later, the male flowers open. This usually prevents the flower from self-pollinating. Self-pollination is normally considered impossible, but in 1999, Huntington Botanical Garden botanists hand-pollinated their plant with its own pollen from ground-up male flowers.

The procedure was successful, resulting in fruit and 10 fertile seeds from which several seedlings eventually were produced.

7. How rare are corpse flowers at botanic gardens?

Corpse flowers are pretty rare in the world of botanic gardens. Kew Gardens in London has two of them. The Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Mass. has one named Morticia. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia has a corpse flower that last bloomed in December 2012. The Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., also has a corpse flower. There's one named Putrella at the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton, Canada. And obviously, there is one at the Denver Botanic Garden, hence the purpose of this listicle. There are about 100 recorded cultivated corpse flowers around the world. The first recorded flowering in the United States was at the New York Botanical Gardens in 1937.

8. How endangered are corpse flowers?

The corpse flower is considered "vulnerable" when it comes to its conservation status. A vulnerable species is considered as such because it's likely to become endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulnerability is mainly caused by habitat loss or destruction. There are currently 4,914 plants classified as vulnerable, compared to 2,815 in 1998.

9. What feeds this monster?

Yes, it weighs a lot and rarely blooms, but the corpse flower is pretty typical when it comes to nourishment. The corpse flower simply feeds on soil, air and water.