Huge phallic Dutch plant in rare stinking bloom

AMSTERDAM (Reuters Life!) - A giant plant which is named for its phallic shape and smells like a rotting corpse has begun to bloom in the Netherlands for the first time since it was planted 11 years ago.

The rare flowering of the Amorphophallus Titanum, which can be followed by web cam on www.hortus.leidenuniv.nl, will produce a burgundy red blossom with a giant phallic shape jutting out of it and a pungent fragrance designed to attract beetles to aid pollination.