After six years of coaxing, the gardners at London's Kew Gardens have gotten the biggest, stinkiest flower in the world to bloom — for three days.
The 75 kilogram (165-pound) titan arum, the rotten-smelling giant of the plant kingdom, "unfurled its single stinky flower after beginning a dramatic growth spurt last week," a Kew spokeswoman said.
"Last week the yellow shoot began to swell dramatically. It has now reached a height of almost three meters," she added.
"The huge phallic flower has now unfurled to reveal its blood-red interior … and the plant has begun to heat up, giving off a pungent aroma described as a mixture of rotting flesh and excrement."
(Thanks, Songdog!)
