Destri, a researcher at the botanical garden, said that the 3.5-meter-tall Amorphophallus titanum, also known as a titan arum, blossomed on Sunday, less than three years after its last bloom in 2017. The flower, which only grows in the wild in the rainforests of Sumatra, usually blooms in four-year intervals.

This particular titan arum was moved to the Cibodas Botanical Garden from its initial habitat in Kerinci Seblat National Park in West Sumatra in the year 2000. It has bloomed six times since, Destri said, with its first bloom occurring in 2003.

One of the garden’s other titan arums bloomed in March. Unfortunately, the flowers are not available for public viewing since the Indonesian Institute of Sciences has closed the four botanical gardens under its management in Cibodas, Bogor, as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Titan arums are often referred to as corpse flowers because of their distinctly foul odor, described as a mix of rotting fish and strong cheese.

First discovered in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari, the titan arum is cultivated by botanical gardens and private collectors around the world. 

According to the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BCGI) database, at least 70 gardens worldwide have a titan arum, most of them in the United States and Europe. (vny)

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