Rare flowers to bloom in Ontario

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NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario, May 4 (UPI) -- Officials at the Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse in Ontario said two of the six rare Titan Arum flowers it received are about to bloom.

Joan Cornelius, manager of the Floral Showhouse, said one of the flowers, which are known as the world's tallest flowers, is expected to bloom any day and the other is expected to bloom in about 10 days, WIVB-TV, Buffalo, N.Y., reported Friday.

The ready-to-bloom flowers each weigh about 150 pounds and are about 6 years old. They were given to the facility by a donor in New Hampshire.

"The corm can actually get up to 250 pounds, so if we grow them well and they are happy after the bloom, the bloom only lasts for three to four days, then it will collapse. Then it will send out a leaf and that can last up to nine months to a year. That leaf is going to make these corms get bigger," Cornelius said.

The plants give off the smell of rotting meat when the flowers bloom to attract the same insects that feed on dead animals, officials said.