Rare ¡®Penis Plant¡¯ Blooms In Dutch Botanical Garden For The First Time Since 1997

For the first time in nearly 25 years, a 6-and-a-half-foot-tall ¡°penis plant¡± has bloomed at a botanical garden in the Netherlands.

The ¡°penis plant,¡± which is actually called amorphophallus decus-silvae, flowered on October 19, at the Leiden Hortus Botanicus.

AFP

Experts believe that this is only the third time plant has bloomed in Europe, Vice reported. The plant is native to the Indonesian island of Java, and is incredibly difficult to bloom ¡ª and when it does, it emits a strong stench.

The last time one of the "penis plants" bloomed at the Leiden Hortus Botanicus (enclosed garden) was in 1997, and it was a different plant.

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The one currently in bloom at the Leiden Hortus Botanicus was planted by a Dutch gardener back in 2015. The plant had been meticulously cared for by volunteers for six years before it finally emerged early last week.

Leiden Hortus Botanicus officials wrote on their Instagram account: ¡°Because the plant itself is so rare and few botanical gardens have the amorphophallus decus-silvae in their collection, observing a blooming plant is very special.¡±

Omroep West

¡°In years when the plant does not bloom, it collects energy by only making leaves and storing food in tubers. After blooming, the leaf growth cycle begins again.¡±

Rogier van Vugt, a Greenhouse manager, told Dutch media outlet Omroep West that the plant¡¯s name ¡°amorphophallus¡± is translated to ¡°shapeless penis¡± in English.

¡°But with a little imagination, you can indeed see a penis in the plant. It is, in fact, a long stem, and on it is a typical arum with veins. And in the middle is a thick white spadix,¡± van Vugt told the outlet.

The so-called penis plant is closely related to the amorphophallus titanum ¡ª which is commonly known as the ¡°corpse flower¡± due to its similarly stinky odour, New York Post reported.