'Corpse flower' blooming to world record

The world's first-ever serial blossoms of three titan arum, an endangered flower species also known as corpse flower, is taking place in the China National Botanical Garden (North Garden), Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

The titan arum is regarded the biggest flower in the world, whose inflorescence can reach over 3 meters, but only blooms three to four times in its whole life with each blossom lasting less than two days.

During the blooming period, the flower sends out stinky odor resembling corpses in decomposition, the bud turns deep purple and the tip of the spadix remains roughly human body temperature — to attract carrion-eating beetles and flies to pollinate the flower itself.

The rare serial blooming of the titan arum in Beijing started early this month. The first blossom was on July 6, the second one on July 19, and the third is about to bloom soon, according to Beijing News.

The titan arum grows in the wild only in the equatorial rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the serial blossoms of this rare species in conservatory has shown the human cultivation skills and techniques of the China National Botanical Garden (North Garden), which just opened three months ago.