The Corpse Flower, Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum. about 5ft tall. The bulb weighs nearly 100lbs.
The corpse flower is from Sumatra. It grows on the jungle floor. For 3-6 years of its life it sprouts one leaf that looks like a branch. About 20' tall with as many as a hundred off-shoots looking like little leaves in a 16' canopy. They completely fall off each year. Then every 3-6 years the plant grows a single tightly wrapped leaf, about 5 feet tall. In a very short 24-36 hour period, it opens completely, then starts to die, or so it seems. The plant has the ability to raise its temperature to over 98 degrees. This mimics the heat of mammals, the color of the plant is red like rotting meat, and the smell for 36 hours is that of a rotting carcass. All in an effort to attract flies. At the base is the bulb which also send up hundreds of male and female flowers. The flies come in, and pollinate the flowers. The flowers than can create up to 40,000 seed pods. Birds love the juicy seeds, eat them and pass them through their system all over the jungle.
Nature!
So we braved the two hour line to see the flower, and yes it was worth it. Every trip to the Zoo is worth it!
The line started right inside the entrance to the zoo and...
... continued to the rhino exhibit, where the Corpse Flower had been moved for this showing. It needs shade.
At the two hour mark you are close enough to see the bloom, and it is amazing. Here a woman takes a selfie.
It is so wild, it didn't look real. It was like looking at Audrey in "Little Shop of Horrors."
You could take photos with it, and spend time. When the wind was blowing you couldn't smell it, but in the heavy still morning air
it smelled like garbage more than a rotted corpse.
Then the rhinos! Mom.
Dad. Dad is the last Rhino in captivity in America that was caught in the wild. Because of that, for breeding purposes, he might be the most valuable rhino in America. He has fathered 16 other rhinos.
Asian Lantern Festival is going on right now.
And have to stop to see the baby gorilla.
The sobering truth. As much as it hurts to see him in a zoo, the future of so many of these animals in their natural habitat is more often much worse. Does it make it right? I have no idea, but they are well taken care of by loving knowledgeable people.
Thank you Metro Parks, Cleveland Zoo, and all of the volunteers that make ever visit a pleasure.