By Aysu Bicer
LONDON (AA) – Two of the world's rarest and foulest-smelling flowers, the Titan arum and Aristolochia goldieana, have bloomed simultaneously for the first time at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London.
This marks only the third time that an Aristolochia goldieana has ever flowered in the UK, a statement by Kew Gardens said Wednesday.
The plant first bloomed in the 1990s at the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew Gardens and in the Palm House at Kew Gardens in 2023. The current bloom can be admired at the Palm House.
Meanwhile, a rare Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum), known as the smelliest plant in the world, is flowering at the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
Each of these extraordinary plants takes several years to produce a flower that can grow up to three meters (9.84 feet) in height but remain in bloom for less than 48 hours.
The Titan arum, nicknamed the "corpse flower" due to its strong odor reminiscent of rotting flesh, first flowered outside the Indonesian island of Sumatra at Kew Gardens 135 years ago in 1889.
Its second bloom in 1926 drew such large crowds that the police had to be called in to manage the situation.
Remarkably, Kew Gardens has not seen two plants flower in such close succession for over five years, with another individual blooming just last week.
Aristolochia goldieana, native to tropical West Africa, is a vulnerable species first described in 1865. It is one of the largest-known Aristolochia species.
This scrappy-looking climber grows around a meter each year and currently stands about four meters (13 feet) tall. Its foliage emits a bitter, chemical-like odor, while the flowers smell like a garbage heap in high summer, using the same deceptive pollination strategy as many well-known aroids, including the Titan arum.
The Titan arum in the Princess of Wales Conservatory is expected to be in bloom for two to three days, while the Aristolochia goldieana in the Palm House should remain in flower for three days.