Penis flower standing up to attention

The exotic flower known as Amorphophallus titanum – meaning 'giant deformed penis' – has just started to bloom, only a few days later than predicted, the Botanical Gardens of Copenhagen announced today.

The plant now measures two metres in height, but it won't be able to stay up for more than a day. 

It's an extremely rare phenomenon to see the spadix raised, although the last time it happened in Denmark was in 2012. It usually only happens every 15 years.

AKA corpse flower
The strange plant can reach three metres in height and grows in the tropical rainforests of the Indonesian island Sumatra. It has earned its other name, ‘corpse flower’, from the infamous foul stench it releases to attract pollinating insects.

Both the vulgar sight and the foul stench can be experienced at the Botanical Gardens, which has extended its opening hours to 8pm today, and from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.

For those who don't get to have a look, the Botanical Gardens has made a time-lapse video of the blooming. Watch it here.

 





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.