Endangered corpse flower blooms in Warsaw, drawing crowds

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The endangered Sumatran Titan arum, a giant foul-smelling blossom also known as the corpse flower, has gone into a rare, quick bloom at a botanical garden in Warsaw. The event drew crowds who waited for hours in a cold wind to see it only briefly. The extraordinary flower that emits a dead-body odor bloomed Sunday. It was already withering Monday. Those who wanted to dodge its smell could watch the live video from the Warsaw University Botanical Gardens. Know also as Amorphophallus titanum, it only grows in the rainforests of Sumatra, but it is endangered there due to deforestation. It’s first known blooming outside Sumatra was in 1889 at London’s Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.