New "Porta Potty" Flower Discovered
Phallic-shaped species smells like rotting meat and feces.
Discovered on an island off the coast of Madagascar, the newfound plant grows up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) high and blooms once a year with a "really foul" stench, according to discoverer Greg Wahlert, a postdoctoral researcher in botany at the University of Utah.
The new flower adds to the roughly 170 species in the Amorphophallus genus, which means "misshapen penis" in Greek after the phallic shape of the plants' flowers.
(See "Researchers Uncover Secrets of Gigantic 'Corpse Flower.'")
Wahlert discovered the new species—named A. perrieri—in full bloom while collecting violets in two remote islands northwest of Madagascar in 2006 and 2007. (See more flower pictures.)
Suspecting