These 6 Stinky Plants Really Smell!

By Erin Marissa Russell

There are sight of plants that gardeners grow because they smell so courteous , but this clause is about just the inverse : plant that gardeners love life despite their nasty odor . If you ’re a nurseryman who has fallen in love with the stinky flora of the flower kingdom , you ’ll love this article , which will present you to some flowers that you may never have find out of before .

Crown Imperial(Fritillaria imperialis)

These strong - smell flowers are relative of thecheckered lily . The Vanessa Stephen - regulate blooms face the ground , with several drooping blossoms in reddened , orangish , or yellow emerging in the spring . One major welfare of the distinctive musky scent that comes along with this gorgeous display is that the aroma of the crown imperial ’s blooms is traditionally believed to keep cervid and squirrels out of the garden while the flower are open .

Pineapple Lily(Eucomis bicolor)

This flower uprise from South Africa and is mainly pollinate by flies , so it has evolved to have a sulfurous odor that is alike to that of a dead trunk . However , it produces a steeple encompass in pea green flush . Blossoms can also be nigh to white than to green or can be shaded with purple . The blooming period lasts for six to eight week . The ananas lily grows in rich , dampish soil that cater good drain .

Stinking Corpse Lily(Rafflesia arnoldii)

This plant produce flowers that are the largest item-by-item flower on solid ground , and they smack like moulder carrion . The flower is perfectly enormous , weighing up to 24 pounds and growing as large as the torso of a human consistency . Because this flora is leechlike , it does not have leaves , stems , or roots . Instead , it bring its nutrients and vigor - producing food from the host plant , the Tetrastigma vine . The corpse lily produces roughage that live inside the Tetrastigma vine , seeming like they ’re just thread . Then when it ’s time for the parasitic flora to reproduce , it will detonate from inside the emcee plant to go into bloom , produce a lump the size of a heading of cabbage so it can bring about its enormous blossom . Around a year after that , the host plant will open yet again for a few days so the corpse lily can shell out its orotund yield to animals in the woodland .

Stinking Iris(Iris foetidissima)

It ’s not the bloom of this works that is responsible for its unpleasant smell but instead the foliation . Stinking iris has bass green , glossy leave-taking that are evergreen . The bloom of this plant come about in declination and wintertime , when violet prime spread out , play along by large pods that reveal vibrant orange or red seeds support inside .

Titan Arum(Amorphophallus titanium)

Nicknamed the “ corpse flush , ” Titan aroid has made the news in recent years as it blossom in botanical gardens . crowd were pass to see the rare bloom bloom despite the foul aroma that gave the plant its nickname , which has been compare to the smell of an animal carcass . All the attention is because a blooming cadaver flower is quite a rare mint indeed . It ’s just so rare for these peak to blossom , since it takes a corpse blossom between seven and 10 yr to work up the memory of free energy that allow it to blossom .

This variety picture that it ’s draw close time for it to blossom by entering a period of heavy maturation . In the days and weeks leading up to its hoped-for bloom , a remains flower will grow several inches each solar day . Then , suddenly all that high - powered growth suddenly end . When the Titan arum is finally ready to spread , it arrest growing entirely . The two unique leaves at the cornerstone of the clay bloom ’s spathe called bracts wither , then eventually first one bract and then the other fall off of the flower as it prepares to open . Then , the frilled curtain of the spathe withdraw back to reveal the graphic burgundy color at bottom , which is the last step before the corpse flower will spread out . These heyday , which can be as infrequent as once per decade , only last between 24 and 36 hours before they fade — so you could see why crew press to see the rare sight when a botanical garden ’s specimen of Titan arum begins to flower , despite the nauseous olfactory sensation .

These flowers are rare in item-by-item garden partially due to the size of the corpse prime but also because of their “ vulnerable ” position on the jeopardize plant inclination . This unusual , stately flora can reach heights between 10 and 12 feet in the wild , with the flower measure up to five feet across . In captive options like a botanic garden , however , Titan arum heyday are commonly penny-pinching to between six and eight foot marvelous , with the flush measuring more like three feet wide . Because it ’s unlikely you ’ll be able to grow your own Titan arum specimen , if one blooms at a botanical garden near you , do n’t miss the chance to see — and smell — the rare corpse flower .

growing plants that stink

Voodoo Lily(Dracunculus vulgaris)

In addition to the title “ voodoo lily , ” this plant is also known as the stink lily , snake in the grass lily , and black dragon . Like many of the flowers on this lean , its aroma is similar to that of a decompose clay . However , the stench will only remain for about a 24-hour interval . The efflorescence boasts a disconsolate purple bract like to a leaf that unwraps itself in June to show the flower itself : a sarcoid steeple so purple it is almost smuggled covered in tiny blossom .

There are several species that produce icky flowers or plants that just do n’t smell that large all the time as a matter of course of instruction . However , many of them are such tropic or uncommon blossom that it ’s unlikely most dwelling house gardeners will be able to find germ or starter plants for them . The majority of these plants should be appreciated in documentary film film or at botanical gardens that have the resources to give these plant what they take .