Dave and I went to visit the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle to look at the rare, Amorphophallus titanum. The Amorphophallus titanum was discovered in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in Sumatra, Indonesia. It has the largest undivided inflorescence or "flower structure," which is why it's been called the largest flower in the world. What blooms is actually a cluster of flowers. There are some 5,000 male florets; but the approximately 700 female florets, when mature, are what produce a smell that's been described as similar to "rotting flesh." In the wild, the smell attracts carrion beetles that pollinate the plant. The stink is usually most potent at midnight and then dies down hour by hour. The bloom collapses after just a few days. It usually takes eight years for the plant to mature and bloom, emerging first as a single leaf that looks more like a palm tree and then, as a phallic-looking bud wrapped in a frilly, pleated sheath. The plant can reach 6 feet or even taller, which explains why folks once feared it might consume gardeners. In the flowering phase, the plant has been known to grow 5 inches in 24 hours. Last Friday alone, for example, "Waldo" had grown 3.5 inches in height and 3 inches in circumference in 24 hours.