Rare corpse flower begins blooming at UNG

Kayla Folds completed her closing exams April 29 and instantly turned her consideration to a novel endeavor made potential by a shiny, smelly and uncommon botanical incidence.

A titan arum, also called a “corpse flower,” started blooming the identical day. Though it did not absolutely bloom, guests can nonetheless view a number of the flower. Folds will assist college students and group members be taught extra in regards to the flower named Stephen. Corpse flowers, which normally develop to between six and eight ft, typically solely bloom about each eight to 10 years.

UNG encourages the general public to come back to the greenhouse, which is situated between the Health and Natural Sciences (HNS) constructing and The Commons residence corridor advanced at UNG’s Dahlonega Campus, to see the corpse flower in bloom. Free customer parking is accessible at the nook of Sunset Drive and Main Street.

“I personally enjoy being able to take other students in and show them the plant and talk about it,” Folds, a senior from Jasper, Georgia, pursuing a level in biology, mentioned. “It also gives them a chance to see what else the university has to offer, like our greenhouse. Stephen has really brought a lot of attention to the greenhouse so other students can see what we have going on.”

Folds has served as a pupil employee in UNG’s greenhouse since 2022 and in addition takes the lead in caring for vegetation within the HNS constructing at UNG’s Dahlonega Campus.

The plant’s title comes from its hideous scent.

“It smells like rotting meat. It’s a very foul odor,” mentioned Dr. Ashlee McCaskill, a professor of biology who supervises the scholar staff who care for the corpse flowers, considered one of which bloomed in 2020 and garnered vast consideration regionally. “The smell is used to attract carrion beetles that act as pollinators and trick the beetles into thinking it’s meat. They pick up pollen and then go to another corpse plant and deliver pollen.”

In addition to their noticeable scent, corpse flowers every have a whole lot of flowers of their base.

“It’s the largest inflorescence on the planet,” McCaskill mentioned.

McCaskill additionally serves as director of UNG’s Environmental Leadership Center.

According to the U.S. Botanic Garden, “This plant is native to the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, and first became known to science in 1878. In its natural habitat, the corpse flower can grow up to 12 feet tall. Public viewings of this unique plant have occurred a limited number of times in the United States.”