Don’t stop and smell these flowers! Plug your nose! These are foul-smelling, vomit-inducing flowers that you don’t want to get too close to.
Photo Credit: Flickr
The Voodoo Lily (Dracunculus vulgaris)
It’s a beautiful pink flower but don’t let its good looks fool you. The Voodoo Lily is related to the same family as the Calla Lily, but unlike its popular relative, you should avoid the use of this flower in your floral arrangements. It emits a disgusting rotting flesh odor, which help attract flies and other pollinators, but it won’t help you attract any friends!
Toad Plant or Carrion Plant (Stapelia gigantea)
Photo credit: Flickr
This flowering succulent, native to South Africa, has hairy cactus-like flowers and emits an decaying flesh odor to attract insects and other pollinators. The 5 point star-shaped flowers can grow up to be 16 inches across. If you don’t mind the foul smell of the flowers, you could consider one of these as a houseplant. They are easy to grow and don’t require a lot of maintenance. They do require bright light and well drained soil to thrive.
Photo Credit: http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu
Corpse Flower (Rafflesia arnoldii)
The Corpse flower is rare and considered endangered. The buds take months to develop and the flower only last for a few days. Found in the rainforests of Indonesia, the Corpse flower is the world’s largest individual flower. With a diameter of 3 feet across and weighing up to 25 pounds, you can’t miss it! It doesn’t have any leaves, stems or roots. That being said, if you come across it, don’t get too close. It emits a strong odor of decaying flesh.
Dead Horse Arum Lily (Helicodiceros muscivorus)
Photo credit: http://www.naturamediterraneo.com
The Dead Horse Arum Lily is an ornamental plant native to the Mediterranean region and can be found growing near the sea shores. Its common name refers to to the fact that this flower smells of decaying animal flesh. The foul scent lure flies in to pollinate the plant. It also has the rare ability to raise its temperature through thermogenesis.
Photo Credit: Flickr
Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum)
The titan arum can reach heights of 10 feet or more, making it one of the largest and stinkiest flowers in the world. Even though this gigantic flower stinks like decaying flesh and rotten eggs, people having been making trips around the world to see this flower bloom. It’s a rare sighting. A plant may not bloom for years on end and when it does, the bloom only lasts one or two days. If you are brave enough, you can go see the plant in various botanic gardens from around the world. They are also found growing in the rainforests in Indonesia. The sightings are rare, as they are considered endangered species.
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