How the corpse flower came to be so weird

2 days ago

The titan arum, also known as the corpse plant, blooms with a large spike and red spathe, emits a rotting flesh smell, and the bloom lasts about 36 hours, occurring every 7+ years.
It attracts scientific and public interest due to its unique traits, including evolutionary mimicry to attract carrion insects as pollinators with appearance and sulfur-based compounds like putrescine.
The plant generates heat by metabolizing starch into sugar and releasing energy as warmth to disperse its odor, enhancing pollination chances.
Endangered with fewer than 1,000 wild plants, its odor emissions can be affected by air pollution, potentially reducing pollinator visits.
Evolutionarily, it shows a mismatch: gigantic inflorescence but dwarfed individual flowers, with small flowers ancestral and leading to selection for larger overall blooms rather than bigger flowers.

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