It Smells Like Something Died In Here

Ah, it's summertime and lovers (of amorphophallus titanum) are sniffing the breeze!

Seattlest actually hesitates to cover this story, because of its likelihood to cause a massive influx of visitors to Volunteer Park -- simply enormous throngs appear every time we mention that a corpse flower is blooming.

This one, Waldo, is a 5', 180-lb. hermaphrodite, and is happily ensconced in the Conservatory at Volunteer Park. (Open in summer 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., free with suggested donation.) You can read more about the happy event here.

The key take-aways are that: a) the plant (a native of Sumatra) smells like rotting flesh, and b) it only blooms for a few days, so hurry (or not). In the wild, if you're curious, the scent attracts carrion beetles, who do the work of pollination.

For full effect, Seattlest advocates visiting Waldo just prior to a screening of Land of the Dead, which (coincidentally?) also recently opened.