西方文化|世界最大最臭尸花开放

The world's tallest -- and smelliest -- flower has bloomed, reaching a height of 2.94 metres, 18 centimetres more than the previous record for the species, the Stuttgart botanical garden said Friday.

The Titan Arum, or Amorphophallus Titanum, nicknamed corpse^{1 flower because of its putrid（腐烂的）stench（臭气）, blooms rarely and briefly2.}

Garden staff have nicknamed the purple flower Diva and are charting（制图）its life on their web site, www.wilhelma.de.

But those keen（渴望的）for a glimpse（一见）, or a whiff（一闻）, in person must be quick: just 24 hours after the 11 year-old plant produced its first flower, the bloom began to wilt（枯萎）Friday.

The Titan Arum was discovered in 1878 in its sole indigenous^{3（当地的） habitat, the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and grows in cultivation（培养）in only a handful of places around the world.}

Its scent^{4 has been likened to rotting fish（臭鱼）or animal flesh.}

The smell is crucial（至关要紧）to its survival in its natural habitat because it attracts pollinating（授粉）carrion（腐肉的）beetles and flesh flies, said botanist^{5 Franziska Lo-Kockel.}

Lo-Kockel brought the bulb of the plant, weighing some 40 kilograms, from the University of Frankfurt to the Stuttgart gardens 11 years ago.

Note:

这个居然还被叫做花的东西，高2.94米，同时也是也是世界上最臭的花。据路透社报道，这株世界上最高的花日前在斯图加特植物园开放，它刚刚创下的花高纪录比原纪录高了18厘米。

为了这短暂的24小时花期，它已经成长了11年，加之它奇臭无比，青春短暂，有人为其名曰尸花（corpse flower）它原名大花草（Rafflesia arnoldii），是一种原产马来群岛热带雨林中的肉质寄生植物。