Surprise giant ‘corpse flower’ blooms

An Indonesian farmer was startled to discover a rare “corpse flower” blooming in his plantation on the island of Sumatra. Rosihan Anwar Hasibuan, a local palm oil farmer, said he came across the mystery flower when he was checking on his crops. “I saw a weird object,” he said.

“I thought it was a ghost.” The Amorphophallus titanum flower is hard to glimpse because it can take up to 10 years to bloom and lasts only for a few days. It is known for its unpleasant smell which has been compared to rotting meat, giving it the nickname “corpse flower”.

Unaware of what it was, Hasibuan resorted to social media for help. “I took pictures and uploaded them to Facebook,” he said, adding that many people replied with the answer. The phallus-shaped flower is the largest in the world, reaching heights of up to three metres (10 feet). Many “corpse flowers” are cultivated in botanical gardens across the world, drawing huge crowds when they bloom, but in their native Sumatra they have faced threats from deforestation.