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A Rare Corpse Plant Is Alive And Well In Local Woman's Yard

Tribune photo by FRED BELLET

Mary Winemiller sniffs her way into the garden in search of the scent of the corpse plant. The odd-shaped and odd-smelling annual is among many varieties of plants in her garden.

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By PENNY CARNATHAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

When the dogs took a special, sniffy interest in her "snake plant" last year about this time, Mary Winemiller grew curious. She finally went outside to investigate.

There in the pot was a big, reddish bloom that smelled like something whose soul had fled days earlier.

But it was very much alive.

Mary's "snake plant," acquired years earlier at a flea market, had coughed up a giant, stinky flower.

"It smelled like a dead bird," Winemiller says.

This year she was ready. The New Port Richey woman now knows she has an Amorphophallus titanium - a corpse plant. It's rare in the United States but pretty common in Sumatra, where its alluring smell draws the carrion flies that pollinate it.

This year's blooming, which began last week, was slow and rather like watching something give birth, she says.

"It's like a baby coming out. It looks like a brain coming out. It's starting to crown," Winemiller said last week.

By Sunday evening, the behemoth blossom had emerged, bigger - and smellier - than last year's.

"The flies, you never saw so many," Winemiller says. "It smelled like a bunch of dead rats. You couldn't even open the back door because of the smell."

Her dog, Mr. Brown, particularly enjoyed the bloom, which remained open Monday and was still in pretty good shape Tuesday morning.

The bloom is much bigger and prettier than last year's, Winemiller says. Deep inside are tiny cream-colored blossoms, along with some "dead bodies" - presumably some carrion flies overcome by the intoxicating aroma.

Keyword: corpse, to hear Mary Winemiller's (colorful!) narration of a corpse plant slide show.

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