Dissecting the Corpse Flower
The corpse flower, a rare and infamous plant from Sumatra
that blooms occasionally, like every 7 years, and when it opens, for the magic
of 6 – 8 hours, mostly at night, it emits the most horrendous smell. The smell
of death that attracts carrion beetles and flesh flies so that pollination
occurs.
The build up to this event was on par with the Chicago Fire
Festival that took place downtown last year which resulted in millions of visitors
clogging the riverfront on a cold night to watch papier mache floating houses
ignite. Except they didn’t. The whole thing was a dud.
Poor Spike fell victim to its own media hype. He, she, it,
refused to open. The natural signs leading up to the phenomena were all there,
the anticipation was grounded in science, but perhaps conditions were not
right. Anyway, Sunday morning the botanists knew something was amiss and cut
her open to peel away the leave and reveal the maroon-colored spathe. These
leaves were accordion pleated like a beautiful vintage dress.
I happened to be one of the lucky visitors that got to see
Spike, undressed and naked before the adoring crowds. I needed to get in a long
bike ride and from my house to the Chicago Botanical Gardens near the Lake/Cook
line round-trip is about 55 miles. I say lucky because even though I signed up
for an e-mail notification I never received news about the intervention. I
stood in line with members who said they didn’t know either but had just
dropped by. They had been visiting Spike for a week just in case.
web can, recorded images
story behind the story
Because she was still-born there was no actual smell. We
might have to wait another 7 years for the next flowering. There is poetry
here, somewhere.
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