‘Corpse Flower’ Has 2 Little Ones

Ten months after the reeking demise of their famous parent, two new “corpse flower” seedlings have sprouted in what could someday lead to another stench-filled season at the Huntington Library.

The two newly emerged Amorphophallus titanum offspring don’t look much like the 6-foot corpse flower that lured 76,000 tourists last August for a whiff of the rotting flesh stink used to attract pollinating insects.

Two of the 10 seeds harvested from the globular orange fruits have germinated and started to grow. And they’re rising fast.

“The one that came up this week you could practically see growing. First there was just a little bud showing, and the next day it had grown a quarter-inch,” said Kathy Musial, curator of plant collections at the Huntington Library.

Musial hopes that the eight other seeds will eventually begin to grow too, but the process is so rare that no one is quite sure what to expect.

“Now we’re into the warm weather, we’re hopeful some others will come up,” Musial said.

The Huntington’s 19-day display of the rare blooming Amorphophallus titanum last August created an international sensation. People lined up for hours in the summer heat to view and smell the flower--only the 11th recorded bloom in the United States in 100 years.

The new plants are in a heated greenhouse that simulates conditions in the species’ native New Guinea but otherwise receive no special attention, Musial said.

The parent Amorphophallus titanum suddenly started growing six inches a day last July, a few months after the 45-pound tuber arrived in a cardboard box as a gift from an Arizona collector.