Europe: The ‘penis’ blooms for the first time in decades

A tall, folic-shaped rare plant blooms in a garden in the Netherlands.

According to Leiden Hortus Botanicus, a botanical garden at the University of Leiden, it is called the ‘penis plant’ and is the third time the species has thrived in Europe since 1997.

The six-year-old plant, scientifically named Amorphophallus decus-silvae, was grown by gardener Rudmer Postma, according to a press release.

Plantation staff first noticed the flower bud in mid-September, and in a month the bud reached a height of half a meter and the short stem up to 2 meters.

“Some botanical gardens have Amorphophallus decus-silvae in their collection, which makes the plant’s flowers particularly rare,” the report said.

Native to the Indonesian rainforest, the ‘penis plant’ requires a very hot and humid growing environment that is difficult to grow in Europe.

But its horrible, pungent odor, like rotten flesh, helps gardeners predict when it will bloom, which occurs in two stages: the female flowering stage and the male flowering stage.

During the female flowering stage, the white part of the flower, called spatix, in the form of a phallus, warms up and emits an odor.