Nature
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Every now and then, Kew Gardens is transformed as one of its leafy residents unfurls a great flower and fills the air with an unimaginable stench. Last year we enjoyed the remarkable bloom of Titan arum, a rare flowering event that happens only every seven years or so and smells like corpses. Now, the air is singing with the scent of *checks notes* old socks. Tasty.
That’s the seductive scent of a curious plant called Pseudohydrosme gabunensis, a tuberous geophyte that grows primarily in wet tropical places. Its native to Gabon, but the Orchid Zone in Kew's Princess of Wales Conservatory is lucky enough to have a spectacular specimen among its collections.
“PSA: the rare Pseudohydrosme gabunensis is flowering!” wrote Kew on Instagram. “This is the first time this endangered plant will bloom on display in the UK.”
“Thanks to a stroke of luck and perfect timing, we successfully pollinated it in 2022 – producing seedlings for the very first time! Much like the Titan arum, its famous family member, this plant has a short blooming period and emits a foul smell during the process.”
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it seems like what constitutes a sexy smell for plants works in much the same way. Described by Kew as “cabbage, cheese, and foot fungus smell,” it’s probably not a flower you want to gift your beloved, but it does a great job in luring in this plant’s key pollinators.
They include flies and beetles that are typically found on rotten organic matter. So, a blend of cabbage, cheese, and foot fungus? Right up their street.
Kew’s old sock bonanza marks the first time Pseudohydrosme has bloomed on display in the UK, but the party won’t last for long. The flowering lasts just 48 hours before the scent starts to drop off, but with Kew you never know what’s about to unfold and release an odorous fug next.
