Flowers are displayed in various types of colors, shapes, and scents. In most cases, it is a way of attracting insects to carry out the important work of pollination. These pollinating insects are generally bees, bumblebees, and butterflies. But, in a few cases, plants prefer to attract flies and beetles, which feed on waste, decaying organisms.
Those special plants that need to tempt those insects emit a smell, not unlike rotten meat. They are smelly flowers, also known as carrion flowers. We present you with some of the plants that smell like rotten meat.
Rafflesia arnoldii
It is a fleshy red flower (pictured above) found in Borneo and Sumatra. It grows parasitizing the roots of trees in tropical rainforests. It can be up to three meters wide. The flowers take several months to develop the flowers, which live only a few days. They attract, above all, flies.
Asimina
They are small understory trees native to eastern North America. The fruits resemble mango in texture and banana in flavor. They don’t hold up well to transport or storage, so it’s hard to see papayas in stores. They are pollinated by flies and beetles. The flowers are large and drooping.
Stapelia gigantea
It is a succulent food for the inhabitants of the African areas where it can be found. The flowers are star-shaped and hairy. The attractive yellow color coupled with streaks of red and the smell of rotting meat attract some insects. Some varieties of Stapelia are grown as houseplants throughout the world.
Mexican squash or jícaro
It is a tree from Central America and is known by many other names. It produces trumpet-shaped flowers with a putrid smell that form on the branches and trunk. The fruit is hard and pumpkin-shaped. Its seeds are edible. The shell is so hard that it is used to make various objects such as jewelry and bowls.
Amorphophallus titanum
The literal name of this plant means “giant misshapen phallus”. It grows in the rainforests of Sumatra and in the Brazilian Amazon. They have no leaves and the stem is minimal. It is basically a five-petal flower with a diameter that can exceed one meter. It reaches a weight of more than ten kilograms, although there are smaller species. The flowers smell like decaying meat to attract flies and beetles. Its fruit serves as food for the tree shrew and other forest animals. They grow in very humid environments. It is considered the second largest flower in the world.
Birthwort
It is a vine with heart-shaped leaves and poisonous tube-shaped flowers. It grows in Europe and was used medicinally for pregnant women until the plant was found to cause kidney failure.
Fetid cabbage
His name says it all. It grows near streams in the Pacific Northwest, from north to Alaska to south to Santa Cruz. The flowers are similar to bright yellow lilies.
Stinkhorn Mushrooms
They are mushrooms. They smell of rotten meat and putrefaction. Flies are attracted and help spread spores so that fungi can reproduce.
Dracunculus vulgaris or dragoneta
Also known as fly-catchers and many other names. It comes from Greece. The flowers are dark purple and smell like meat. In North America it is grown as an ornamental plant.
Yaro we swallowed
It is a plant that comes from the Mediterranean and is pollinated by blue flies , which are the ones that lay their eggs on corpses and help forensics determine the time of death. The flowers also generate heat to fool flies, who think rotting meat has been found.
