The Rotting Bouquet of Summer

We were alerted yesterday by Jon at the DC Traveler that the mighty Titan Arum has begun blooming at the US Botanic Garden. He was, no doubt, tipped off by the oh-so-lovely smell of rotting corpse wafting through his window, which the flower uses to attract meat-loving (at least, meat-stench-loving) bugs to pollinate it. The giant, odorous plant seems to be falling into habit, blooming every two years since 2003 -- before that it hadn't bloomed in 12 years, and the species is usually known to bloom unpredictably.

Not only does the "Corpse Plant" feature the mouth-watering fragrance of dead rats, but it grows to fairly enormous heights, with some wild-growing plants (they're native to Indonesia) reaching 12 feet tall, though most average a still impressive five feet. If you're interested in seeing the purpley-crimson color that reveals itself as the petals open up, you must act quickly. The Titan Arum slowly began budding in June, but reached full bloom and began emitting its zombie-licious fragrance yesterday, so you've only got today and perhaps tomorrow to catch this unusual sight. At least for a couple of years.

The US Botanic Garden is located at 100 Maryland Avenue, SW and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Photo from their web site.