World record breaking ‘corpse flower’ blossoms in Belgium

A rare flowering species of titan arum (amorphophallus titanum) has broken a world record at the Meise Botanic Garden, the horticultural institution has announced.

"At 3.2m, it is the largest titan arum in flower ever recorded in the world," said the garden, which is opening late on Tuesday and Wednesday so that visitors can admire the fleeting display.

The titan arum is more commonly known as the ‘titan's phallus’ or ‘corpse flower’ because of its less-than-pleasant odour. It blossomed overnight on Monday and weighs 112ks, "a real heavyweight", noted Meise.

To enter the famous Guinness Book of Records, an independent expert measured the specimen - which was planted by the Ghent Botanic Garden in 2005 - from the top of its tuber at 8.30. The previous record of 3.1m was set in 2010 in the US town of Gilford in New Hampshire.

The titan arum is a rare species that only grows in the wild in the tropical rainforests of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Although its blossoming is exceptional and ephemeral, the garden underlined, this is nevertheless a second flowering for the greenhouse in the past week. A first blooming of another of the garden’s specimens occurred last Tuesday, reaching a height of 2.17m.

"Thanks to the know-how of our gardeners, who pamper and care for our titan arums, we now have five healthy adult specimens in our collection. Among them, one or more bloom alternately each year, which is no small feat," it said.

As the floral show only lasts from 48 to 72 hours, Meise Botanical Garden will be exceptionally open until 21.00 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Visitors can access the site until 19.30. The record-breaking bloom is located in the citrus orangery of the Green Ark greenhouse complex

Photos: ©Franck Hidvegi/Meise Botanic Garden