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Carrion flowers or Stinking flowers are flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting
Decomposition

Decomposition refers to the process by which tissues of dead organisms break down into simpler forms of matter. Such a breakdown of dead organisms is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite chemical constituents and frees up the limited physical space in the biome....
 flesh. While a typical flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
 may be stereotyped as a colorful, sweet-smelling structure that attracts insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s and rewards them with pollen
Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of Gametophyte , which produce the male gametes of spermatophyta. A hard coat covering the pollen grain protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement between the stamens of the flower to the pistil of the next flower....
 or nectar, this scenario is somewhat perverted for carrion flowers because of the repulsive nature of the scent to most humans. Carrion flowers attract mostly scavenging flies
Fly

True flies are insects of the Order Diptera , possessing a single pair of insect wing on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax....
 and beetle
Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
s as pollinator
Pollinator

A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female carpel of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain....
s.






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Carrion flowers or Stinking flowers are flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting
Decomposition

Decomposition refers to the process by which tissues of dead organisms break down into simpler forms of matter. Such a breakdown of dead organisms is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite chemical constituents and frees up the limited physical space in the biome....
 flesh. While a typical flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
 may be stereotyped as a colorful, sweet-smelling structure that attracts insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s and rewards them with pollen
Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of Gametophyte , which produce the male gametes of spermatophyta. A hard coat covering the pollen grain protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement between the stamens of the flower to the pistil of the next flower....
 or nectar, this scenario is somewhat perverted for carrion flowers because of the repulsive nature of the scent to most humans. Carrion flowers attract mostly scavenging flies
Fly

True flies are insects of the Order Diptera , possessing a single pair of insect wing on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax....
 and beetle
Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
s as pollinator
Pollinator

A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female carpel of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain....
s. Some species may trap the insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s temporarily to ensure the gathering and transfer of pollen.

Plants known as "carrion flower"


Amorphophallus

Many plants in the genus Amorphophallus
Amorphophallus

Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 170 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family ....
 (family Araceae
Araceae

Araceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like hood....
) are known as carrion flowers. Titan arum
Titan arum

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The largest single flower is borne by the Rafflesia arnoldii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant kingdom belongs to the Talipot palm ....
 (Amorphophallus titanum), which has the world's largest flower head, is also called "carrion flower". Rather than a single flower, the titan arum presents an inflorescence
Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches....
 or compound flower composed of a spadix
Spadix

In botany, a spadix is a type of raceme: an inflorescence with small flowers crowded on a thickened, fleshy axis. The term is applied to certain monocotyledons, especially members of the Family Araceae called arums or aroids....
 or stalk of small and anatomically reduced male and female flowers, surrounded by a spathe
Spathe

Spathe may refer to:*A hood-like bract, found along with a spadix, of inflorescences on plants in the arum family *A leaf-like bract subtending an inflorescence in various Genus in the dayflower family ...
 that resembles a single giant petal. This plant has a mechanism to heat up the spadix enhancing the emission of the strong odor of decaying meat to attract its pollinators, carrion
Carrion

Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters, or scavengers, include Hyenas, Vultures, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, Black Bears, Komodo Dragons, Bald Eagles, Raccoons and Blue-tongued lizards....
-eating beetle
Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
s and "flesh flies" (family Sarcophagidae).

Rafflesia Kerrii Flower

Rafflesia

Flowers of plants in the genus Rafflesia (family Rafflesiaceae
Rafflesiaceae

Rafflesiaceae is a family of parasitic plants found in east and southeast Asia, including Rafflesia arnoldii, the plant with the largest flower of all plants....
) emit a repulsive odor, similar to that of decaying meat. This odor attracts the flies that pollinate
Pollination

Pollination in flowering plants and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself....
 the plant. The world's largest single bloom is R. arnoldii
Rafflesia arnoldii

Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest organism on earth. It occurs only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Malay Archipelago....
. This rare flower is found in the rainforest
Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750?2000 mm . The monsoon trough, alternately known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating Earth's tropical rain forests....
s of Borneo
Borneo

Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
 and Sumatra
Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
. It can grow to be 3 feet across and weigh up to 15 pounds. R. arnoldii is a parasitic plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 on Tetrastigma
Tetrastigma

Tetrastigma is a genus of plants in the grape family, Vitaceae. The plants are vines that climb with tendrils and have palmately compound leaves....
 vine, which grows only in primary rainforests with no visible leaves, roots, or stem. It does not photosynthesize
Photosynthesis

File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
, but rather uses the host plant to obtain water and nutrients.

Stapelia

Plants in the genus Stapelia
Stapelia

The genus Stapelia consists of around 40 species of low growing, spineless, stem succulent plants, predominantly from South Africa. The flowers of certain species, most notably Stapelia gigantea, can reach 41 cm in diameter when fully open....
 are also called "carrion flowers". They are small, spineless, cactus-like succulent plants. Most species are native to South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, and are grown as potted plants elsewhere. The flowers of all species are hairy to varying degrees and generate the odor of rotten flesh. The color of the flowers also mimics rotting meat
Meat

In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
. This attracts scavenging flies, for pollination. The flowers in some species can be very large, notably Stapelia gigantea
Stapelia gigantea

Stapelia gigantea is a flowering plant in the Stapelia genus of plants commonly referred to as the Carrion Plant . Stapelia gigantea sometimes also goes by the name of Stapelia nobilis and Stapelia marlothii....
 can reach 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter.

Smilax or Nemexia

In North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, the herbaceous vines of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Smilax
Smilax

Smilax is a genus of about 300-350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found , while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico....
 are known as Carrion flowers. These plants have a cluster of small greenish flowers. The most familiar member of this groups is Smilax herbacea
Smilax herbacea

Smilax herbacea is a plant in the catbrier family, Smilacaceae....
. These plants are sometimes placed in the genus Nemexia
Nemexia

Smilax sect. Nemexia is a group of plants in the family Smilacaceae. It consists of the herbaceous plants within the genus Smilax. Smilax species fall into two groups with distinctive morphologies; one group has woody perennial stems with thorns and a vining habit, while the other group has herbaceous stems that die back to...
.

Scent

The sources of the flowers' unique scent is not fully identified, partly due to the extremely low concentration of the compounds (5 to 10 parts per billion), but simple amine
Amine

Amines are organic compounds and functional groups that contain a base nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are derivative s of ammonia, wherein one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by organic substituents such as alkyl and aryl groups....
s present in decaying flesh, the appropriately named putrescine
Putrescine

Putrescine is an organic chemical compound NitrogenHydrogen24NH2 . It is related to cadaverine; both are produced by the breakdown of amino acids in living and dead organisms and both are toxic in large doses....
 and cadaverine
Cadaverine

Cadaverine is a foul-smelling molecule produced by protein hydrolysis during putrefaction of animal tissue. Cadaverine is a toxic diamine with the formula NH25NH2, which is similar to putrescine....
, are known to be present. Dimethyl sulfide
Dimethyl sulfide

Dimethyl sulfide or methylthiomethane is an Organosulfur compounds compound with the formula 2S. Dimethyl sulfide is a water-insoluble flammable liquid that boils at 37?C and has a characteristic disagreeable odor....
s, including disulfide and trisulfide have been detected in Amorphophallus.

Other plants with carrion-scented flowers

  • Crescentia alata
    Crescentia alata

    Crescentia alata is a species in the trumpet-flower family Bignoniaceae, native to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica....
  • Sterculia foetida
  • Hydnora africana
    Hydnora africana

    Hydnora africana is an chlorophyll plant native to southern Africa that is parasite on the roots of members of the Euphorbiaceae family. The plant grows underground, except for a fleshy flower that emerges above ground and emits an odor of feces to attract its natural pollinators, dung beetles, and Silphidae....
  • Helicodiceros muscivorus
    Helicodiceros muscivorus

    Helicodiceros muscivorus is an ornamental plant native to the northwestern Mediterranean region. It reproduces the stench of rotting meat, attracting carrion-seeking blow-fly which act as pollinators....
  • Dracunculus vulgaris
    Dracunculus vulgaris

    Dracunculus vulgaris is a species of aroid in the genus Dracunculus and is known variously as the Dragon Arum, the Black Arum, the Voodoo Lily, the Snake Lily, the Stink Lily, the Black Dragon, Dragonwort, and Ragons....
  • Lysichiton americanum
  • Symplocarpus foetidus
  • Arum maculatum
    Arum maculatum

    Arum maculatum is a common woodland plant species of the Araceae family. It is widespread across temperate northern Europe and is known by an abundance of common names including Wild arum, Lords and Ladies, Jack in the Pulpit, Devils and Angels, Cows and Bulls, Cuckoo-Pint, Adam and Eve, Bobbin...
  • Aristolochia clematitis
    Aristolochia clematitis

    Aristolochia clematitis, Birthwort, is a herbaceous plant in the Aristolochiaceae family, which is native to Europe. The leaves are heart shaped and the flowers are pale yellow and tubular in form....


See also

  • Stinkhorn
    Stinkhorn

    The Phallaceae are a family of fungi, commonly known as stinkhorn mushrooms. Belonging to the fungal order Phallales, the Phallaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are especially prevalent in tropical regions....
    - fungi that use the same basic principle for spore dispersal.
  • Aseroë rubra
    Aseroë rubra

    Asero? rubra, commonly known as the anemone stinkhorn and sea anemone fungus, is a common and widespread Australian basidiomycete fungus recognizable for its foul odour of carrion and its anemone shape when mature....
    - fungi that use the same basic principle for spore dispersal.


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