Celebrating spring stench: Unusual flower ready to bloom at university

Although smells of spring and blooming Easter lilies fill the air at the Charles Hutson Horticulture Greenhouse in Cape Girardeau, those scents soon will mix with a sickening stench.

Since October, Southeast Missouri State University�s greenhouse manager Melissa LaPlant and her staff have cared for a collection of exotic Amorphophallus plants that often take years to fully bloom.

Standing at more than 5-feet tall and rising, one of the greenhouse�s exotic Amorphophallus konjac plants, affectionately known as �Stinky Jac,� has grown more than 3 feet in the past 10 days.

The blooming konjac came to Cape Girardeau in October as part of a 35-pound donation of Amorphophallus bulbs from Ohio University in Athens, LaPlant said.

Once fully bloomed, the Amorphophallus konjac�s spathe will release a putrid aroma as its large leaves unravel into an enormous flower. The fully bloomed konjac may only last for as little as one day before the flower dies, leaving behind its leaf stalk, which will then go into dormancy, LaPlant said.

LaPlant shows photos of bloomed Amorphophallus plants while explaining the types of Amorphophallus plants in her collection Monday at the Charles Hutson Horticulture Greenhouse in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

The university�s exotic collection now includes 10 Amorphophallus species � five of which LaPlant personally purchased in North Carolina. LaPlant said the Amorphophallus collection is one of the largest in Missouri.

Their Amorphophallus assortment includes smaller konjacs, which LaPlant hopes to plant outside, as well as one Amorphophallus titanum she said can take up to a decade to bloom.

�They look like they�re from �Star Trek� and they stink,� LaPlant said. �I really like unusual and strange plants, and that�s what these guys are.�

A tag labeling "Stinky Jac" lies in the plant pot of the Amorphophallus konjac Monday at the Charles Hutson Horticulture Greenhouse in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

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Pertinent address:

1039 Bertling St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.