A truly special botanical phenomenon takes place at the Cairns Botanic Gardens on Far North Queensland’s Cassowary Coast. Four titan arums, more widely known as corpse flowers, have bloomed in rapid succession! It’s this phenomenon that has the city bursting at the seams with visitors curious to experience the delight – or possible disgust – of the flower’s infamous, rotten-egg stench. Dr. Clarke, a botanist at the gardens, thinks the striking burgundy blooms will be out by the week’s end. These striking, pendulous inflorescences are a real treat!
With their pungent odor, no wonder titan arums are known as corpse flowers. Frequently likened to decomposing meat or “dump juice,” they produce this scent to entice pollinators. The flowering inflorescences of the flowers can shoot up more than ten feet high. Their flower blooms in beautiful, colorful clusters of small flowers but they bloom only for a day and once every few years. This rare occurrence has kept the staff at the gardens busy over the Christmas period, as they manage the influx of visitors and conduct cross-pollination efforts.
A Spectacle of Nature
Thousands of visitors have come to the Cairns Botanic Gardens to experience this once in a lifetime phenomenon. Receiving star treatment just a day after blooming, Julie Young, a local resident, shared how she felt about having seen the titans twice in two days. In fact, the hype around these rare blooms is so intense that people are clamoring to be the first to take in the rotten smell that accompanies them.
In her experience, Dr. Clarke added that titan arums often bloom during the hottest months of the summer. He explained that for four flowers to open in such a short time period is “quite a record.” He made it clear that this occurrence is not common, stating, “We’re not aware of any published examples of more than four flowers in one week.”
The Science Behind the Scent
This massive palm’s talent for generating an odor so pungent it resembles rotting flesh has captivated researchers and visitors throughout its history. Dr. Clarke shared insights from the garden’s survey of visitors, which helped narrow down descriptions of the smell to “bin juice, dead animals such as wallaby and rat, with a slight background flavor of rotting fish.” That one-of-a-kind aroma is actually an important feature that helps lure pollinators to the flower.
As it turns out, the giant corpse flower is perfectly at home in Cairns’ tropical climate. Dr. Clarke remarked, “If we couldn’t flower these things in Cairns… [there would] be something wrong with us because our climate is just about perfect for them.” The success of these blooms truly showcases how special and unique this region is for these rare and wondrous plants.
Botanical History
As far as the history of botany goes, the titan arum has a special claim to fame. The original flowers out of their native orchid habitat were first produced at Kew Gardens in the UK in 1889. From that moment on, this species caused a sensation among botanists and plant lovers all over the world. Beyond their beauty and ecological value, Dr. Clarke emphasized how easy it was to grow these remarkable plants, explaining how “We just plant them and watch them go.”
