corpse flower

noun

variants or less commonly corpse plant

: a tropical perennial herb (Amorphophallus titanum) of the arum family that is native to Sumatra and produces a tall, erect, yellowish-white spadix partly enclosed by a showy, white-spotted, green spathe which opens during bloom to reveal a reddish-purple interior and emit an odor of rotting flesh

Part of the reason the corpse flower is drawing such big crowds is because it rarely blooms. It is also one of the biggest, stinkiest plants on the planet …—

Lara Sorokanich

called also titan arum

Examples of corpse flower in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Information about the garden’s corpse flowers is available at USBG.gov/CorpseFlower. —

Martin Weil, Washington Post, 23 July 2024 According to the Garden, this corpse flower’s seeds were first planted in 2018, and its first bloom began opening the night of July 21. —

Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 July 2024 One of its rare corpse flowers is about to bloom, in all its putrescence. —

Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2024 The Domes received a gift of a dormant corpse flower corm — similar to a bulb or tuber — about 16 years ago from the University of Wisconsin and have since grown more than 10 corpse flower corms from the original. —

Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 28 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for corpse flower

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'corpse flower.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.