What's the Big Stink?

It's a corpse flower! Yep, Pam (you know her as Library Gal) and I had lunch on Friday and took a quick side trip to visit a corpse flower. This particular flower is only one of just a few in California. It is native to the island of Sumatra and is the largest unbranched inflorescense in the world, and it's related to the common calla lily and philodendron. Most corpse flowers only bloom once every few years. This particular flower seems to be on the three-year cycle and I saw (and smelled) it then, too. So, why is it called the corpse flower - it's smell. It is one stinky flower, which is apparently how it lures flies. They say the smell reminds people of decaying flesh, which fortunately I've never had to smell. To me, it smelled like a garbage dumpster on a hot day - or maybe a dead and stinky starfish. Yuck. But, despite its smell, it was a cool flower to visit.