Even if you visited Morty the corpse flower at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens before it opened and while it was in bloom, it is hard to appreciate how quickly the flower grew.
You can get a better idea of the tremendous growth of this rare plant by watching a time-lapse video created by the Botanical Gardens, which you can see below.
The time-lapse video starts at the end of July when Morty was placed on display and continues until after the flower flops over, a total of about three weeks.
The plant grew quickly–about five inches a day– and attained a height of 7 1/2 feet. It might bloom only once a decade.
Jeff Thompson, director of horticulture at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, noted that the flower was 18 inches tall in the middle of July when he left for vacation, and when he came back a week later, it was four feet tall. That rate of growth would be like a human starting as a newborn and in 11 days growing to the size of a schoolbus, he said.
The corpse flower or Amorphophallus titanum is known for its horrible aroma, which smells like rotting flesh.
Morty is still on display and should continue to be displayed for another week or two, Thompson said. If you saw the plant in bloom, you might want to visit again to get a different view: You can actually get a peek inside the corpse flower through a hole cut into the flower.
William, some people like interesting plants.
The corpse flower looks horrid and smells like rotting flesh. Why would anyone in their right mind plant even one in their garden.
I was feeling “left-out” because I missed Morty’s glory day. I was there for his demise, although. Thanks for keeping me connected. I am now back on track.
Thank you for posting this video. The corpse plant is like Jack’s beanstalk, a real life fairy tale.
Amazing!
Amazing