I went to see the "Corpse Flower" that bloomed at the Huntington Botanical Gardens near S. Pasadena CA outside of LA. This is that infamous plant you've heard of that smells like a corpse (though I think there may be more than one type). Its other defining feature is its large phallic shape. I'm talking like 6 feet of plant phallus. Whoa.
More amazing is the infrequency of this potent plant eroticism. These plants don't bloom for up to 80 years!!! The blooms only live a couple days, so this was truly a rare opportunity. This plant bloomed in 1999, which was reportedly the first bloom in CA. It bloomed again in 2002, and now in 2009.
There was quite a line in the conservatory, so my pictures are from above which distorts the scale. Trust me that sucker is big! But I was disappointed that there was very little rotting corpse smell. Damn!
I also wandered around the Desert Gardens and Japanese Garden, which was lovely. There are so many great things to do near LA!
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