Height of fame for rare bloom

The tallest - and smelliest - flower in the world has bloomed, reaching a height of 2.94m, 18cm more than the previous record for the species.

The Titan Arum, or Amorphophallus Titanum, nicknamed "corpse flower" because of its putrid stench, blooms rarely - and briefly.

Stuttgart Botanical Garden staff have nicknamed the purple flower "Diva" and are charting its life on their website, www.wilhelma.de (see link below) 

But those keen for a glimpse, or a whiff, in person, must hurry.

Just 24 hours after the 11-year-old plant produced its first flower, the bloom began to wilt.

The species was discovered in 1878 in its sole indigenous habitat - the island of Sumatra in Indonesia - and grows in cultivation in only a handful of places around the world.

Its scent has been likened to rotting fish or animal flesh.

Botanist Franziska Lo-Kockel said: "The smell is crucial to the plant's survival in its natural habitat because it attracts pollinating carrion beetles and flesh flies."

Lo-Kockel brought the bulb of the plant, which weighed about 40kg, from the University of Frankfurt to the Stuttgart gardens 11 years ago.

- REUTERS