Corpse Flower Stinks of Death I The Green Planet I BBC Earth

It appears to have fur, whiskers and teeth. Its blood-red surface is tough and warty, and it reeks of death. But this is no animal…

Rafflesia is also known as the stinking corpse lily because of its powerful scent: rotting meat. But why has it picked this pungent smell?

#GreenPlanet will open your eyes to an undiscovered kingdom like never before…this is life from the perspective of plants. 🌱

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The Green Planet (2022)
Join Sir David Attenborough and step into a hidden world full of remarkable behaviour, emotional stories and surprising heroes. Using specialist cameras, this spectacular series allows us to travel beyond the power of the human eye, to look closer at the interconnected world of plants, showcasing over two decades of new discoveries. From deserts, tropical jungles and underwater worlds to seasonal lands and our own urban environment, each episode introduces a set of plants, reveals the battles they face, and the ingenious ways they’ve found to survive.

Welcome to BBC EARTH! The world is an amazing place full of stories, beauty and natural wonder. Here you'll find 50 years worth of entertaining and thought-provoking natural history content. Dramatic, rare, and exclusive, nature doesn't get more exciting than this.

[TheBizarre]

A flower that seems to have sprouted straight from hell and instead of bees pollinating it, it has flies. This is fascinating

[anshaabdul]

A minute to admire a hard work of a finger sized cameraman that got into the flower insides and filmed us everything.

[delavalmilker]

I once visited the US Botanic garden, where some of these were blooming. I'm a farmer, and I've been around dead animals. Even in the July heat. So I know how rotting carcasses smell. But to say these flowers are "pungent" is an understatement. One good whiff, and I almost lost my dinner.

[avariceseven]

I did not know it takes them 5 years to bloom. That’s insane.

[Profitglutton]

David Attenborough has got to be the best narrator in several generations. He gave this mammoth of a plant it’s own personality and made it sound frighteningly powerful.

[assasinationnation]

This planet is so crazy man. How a plant can evolve its own specific adaptations and characteristics is beyond anything I can comprehend. Truly amazing.

[XiAnais-btke]

Everything about this flower is extraordinary. The 5 years to maturity. The 1 day to reproduce (relying on a fly to find the opposite sex flower, that might ALSO be open that 1 day window). Everything.

[ArmedTheAsians]

This plant always fascinate me ever since I saw it in a book back when I was in elementary school. Even saw it in person when I was in college, I was lucky enough to see it when it was mature and I could smell it’s terrible stench. Plant from another planet

[prvoke]

Mad respect for the dude with a camera waiting years to follow a fly around from one 'flower' to another

[SC-RGX]

There was once a variation of the plant that grew at my place, and it bloomed in a matter of hours and the entire evening, the entire yard was smelling like an animal died. It was day we knew about the Rafflesia.

[Supersamazing]

Fun fact: instead of waiting five years for the flower to bloom you can use a leaf stone to make it evolve faster.

[matlew]

Nature is mostly beautiful but sometimes disgusting but it's always fascinating..

[andreas]

Sir David is 95 years old. I grew up with his spectacular nature documentaries. Learned so much about how the eco systems work with plants and animals on every continent. He dedicated his live for nature and science .Very professional camera crews and editing from the very start. A true living legend!

[poro]

the fact that these flowers are really rare, and dont flower all at same time.. it is freaking miracle that two meet at same time, also for people wondering why it tooks so much time to flower and for so short time - it is parasitic, so it takes some time to get resources, and most importantly, it tries to imitate dead animal - the stench to create, the special adaptations and most importantly - the heat costs a lot of energy

[notyou]

i feel like the most credit should be given to whoever films and figures out how to film stuff like this, its absolutely insane how they can get footage like this.

[heleninglis]

Sir David Attenborough truly is a treasure to be appreciated by the world, nobody will ever compare!

[noobycreeperbruh]

when he announces the name... it sent chills down my spine... he's the only one that can narrate this kinda thing with the powerful effect they're going for.

[pearlescent]

THIS IS THE FLOWER THAT GREW ON YOUR ANIMAL CROSSING ISLAND WHEN YOU HAD 0 STARS

[TheHuYao]

I just want to point out that I already had the AMAZING experience of smelling this flower, the smell remained in my nose for days and I lost count of HOW MANY TIMES I almost vomit just by remembering how this stinks, literally reeks like death

So If you ever are lucky enough to find one of these plants, never smell it, it's instant regret

[BobMotster]

How does one even manage to capture such footage is beyond me. The dedication, the patience, the determination... Astounding!