Phallus Flower: Niagara's Amorphophallus Titanum Flower Blooms For 1st Time In Canada

CP  |  By Posted: 05/05/2012 4:50 pm Updated: 05/09/2012 5:28 pm

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NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. - A massive, suggestively shaped flower more than two metres high is blooming in Niagara Falls, Ont. _ the first time it has flowered in Canada.

Experts at the Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse say one specimen of the rare Amorphophallus titanum has opened.

But they say the bell-shaped plant won't last long and its centre spike has already started to droop.

By Sunday, it will likely have turned into a "tree-like stalk."

Experts say the unusual flower, whose name means "misshapen phallus," has bloomed in a botanical garden only 21 times.

The plant _ considered the tallest flower species in the world _ gives off a unique smell most often compared to rotting meat.

Parks staff say a second flower is expected to bloom in the coming weeks.

Related on HuffPost:

Loading Slideshow...

  • The Corpse Flower

    This plant, at botanic gardens in Kiel, Germany, began blooming this Thursday (22 March). Braver visitors could get close enough to smell the corpse flower, which will only be on show for a short number of days before it wilts, returning years from now.

  • The Corpse Flower

    A visitor takes in a deep, deep breath of the horrid flower at the University of Connecticut last summer. That particular plant has only blossomed twice since 1994.

  • The Corpse Flower

    Brussels, Belgium has a titan arum plant, seen here last in its common state, wrapped up inside itself waiting for the right time to release its ungodly stench.

  • The Corpse Flower

    A young girl stands beside the Eden Project's amorphophallus titanum. It measures at 9ft 6in, making it one of the largest in the world.

  • The Corpse Flower

    Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens contains a corpse flower, seen here provoking, as it most often does, a negative reaction. The flower is a native to Indonesian rainforests.

  • The Corpse Flower

    Another shot of The Eden Project's corpse flower, which was nurtured by one of the centre's horticulturists, pictured beside the plant.



FOLLOW GREEN

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. - A massive, suggestively shaped flower more than two metres high is blooming in Niagara Falls, Ont. _ the first time it has flowered in Canada.Experts at the Niagara Parks Floral ...
NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. - A massive, suggestively shaped flower more than two metres high is blooming in Niagara Falls, Ont. _ the first time it has flowered in Canada.Experts at the Niagara Parks Floral ...
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robodawa
346 Fans
07:26 PM on 05/06/2012
How long had it been growing before it flowered? Was the plant from seed, cutting, bulb?
Which country is it native to? Obviously if this is the first time it's bloomed in Canada, that the liklihood of it being a native to that country are very small. Look, Huffpo, geeking out nature is one thing. Bravo for creating interest. But try and bring the story up a higher level of fact.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
madcityy
303 Fans
12:00 PM on 05/06/2012
MORE CRAP NEWS,,AS FOLKS R HOMELESS AND FOODLESS..NICE WORK HUFF
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Tsvi1
184 Fans
04:19 PM on 05/06/2012
You are right, why have any news on plants, animals, science, human interest, space, tech, history, religion, or families.
People like you are a problem, not huff.
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Rusty Bucket
Intensely interested in the human condition!
12 Fans
11:53 AM on 05/06/2012
Gosh! I wish I could think of something printable to say about this!
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Rusty Bucket
Intensely interested in the human condition!
12 Fans
11:11 AM on 05/06/2012
Well now, there still seems to be some hope for me! My mother always used to say that I was just a, “late bloomer!”
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francesk
57 Fans
10:20 AM on 05/06/2012
hmmmm.....having seen my fair share of phallus' or is the plural phalli in my day:), I'm not buying that this thing looks like one...wishful thinking, perhaps, on the part of the botonists
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rutroGeorge
Silence is Golden, unless I have something to bark
82 Fans
11:03 AM on 05/06/2012
Exactly. The only reason I'd say there'd be any resemblance would be because of its flesh tone.
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novabird
Lover of Life, Radical Centrist
720 Fans
01:36 PM on 05/06/2012
There is a lot of human flesh that is not that tone...
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kwaut lizard
Reductio ad Absurdum
627 Fans
10:03 AM on 05/06/2012
Seen this very same species bloom in the wild twice.
The leaf is as interesting as the flower spike but never commented on.
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kokausa
69 Fans
08:24 AM on 05/06/2012
give it viagra
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willowtree3
Adopt a shelter animal.
526 Fans
 
07:12 AM on 05/06/2012
Whoever wrote this piece is hung up. To suggest that a natural growing plant is
a phallic symbol is ludicrous.
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novabird
Lover of Life, Radical Centrist
720 Fans
01:37 PM on 05/06/2012
Read the article - the flower's name means "misshapen phallus"
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tom sproule
385 Fans
05:43 AM on 05/06/2012
Is it in the same room as the Burning Diaper Tree?
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shreikback
10 Fans
05:40 AM on 05/06/2012
Anything that smells that bad when it blooms, usually means that it is pollinated by some kind of fly. I used to grow a weird cactus that though the blooms were absolutely beautiful, OMG, the stink, hence the name *Carrion Cactus*.
Thank you Mother Nature for having a use for everything.
Hopefully this is not something else to hit the *endangered species list*
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Linus521
In wildness is the salvation of mankind
483 Fans
12:58 AM on 05/06/2012
Wow, I adore flowers and plants. This is a real beaut. Beautiful, magical and majestic! Guess I will never get to grow one. Another, in my bucket list, gone. sigh.
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beth24
164 Fans
12:58 AM on 05/06/2012
WHY CANT THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN GET ONE OF THESE????
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Viewfromaway
9 Fans
03:04 PM on 05/08/2012
Because they have one already? wiki has the info.
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Denice Brown
crazy cat lady
196 Fans
11:15 PM on 05/05/2012
It's common name is called 'Corpse Flower'
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
mairs
Four legs, good.
4077 Fans
11:05 PM on 05/05/2012
There's one seed available on Ebay right now, located in Poland. ;D
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vogonpoet42
Illegitimus Non Carborundum
429 Fans
10:38 PM on 05/05/2012
This is my vewy good fwend from Wome: Bigus Dickus.
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Denice Brown
crazy cat lady
196 Fans
11:15 PM on 05/05/2012
lol
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tom sproule
385 Fans
05:38 AM on 05/06/2012
He's related to Biggus Dickus
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