ONE of the world’s biggest and smelliest flowers has finally blossomed at a zoo — treating visitors to the stench of rotting meat.

    The Titan Arum was planted at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in Devon, Britain, in 2003 and has been cared for by gardeners ever since.

    Now, for the first time, it has displayed a bloom that measures almost 3 meters wide and 3 meters high.

    The flower, which is green on the outside and bright red inside with ribbed sides and a frilled edge, is only expected to last for a day.

    Giles Palmer, curator of plants and gardens at Paignton Zoo, said, “Imagine you have the smell of rotting meat in a tin can and you open that can on the hottest, most humid day of the year.

    “There are probably only 100 collections in the world where you can see this plant and it can go years between flowerings, so it’s not a common sight.

    “Sadly, they are becoming rare in the wild as people collect the seeds for profit. Habitat destruction is also a major problem.”

    The plant comes from the rainforests of Sumatra and is a member of the Arum family.

    It is classed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened plants.

    The plant has one of the largest flowers in the world and is known as a carrion flower, or corpse flower, thanks to its odor of rotting meat. The plant emits the strong smell at night to attract pollinators.(SD-Agencies)