BLOOMINGTON — Indiana University's greenhouse puts the "bloom" in Bloomington, but you might want to think twice before approaching its newest flower.
The amorphophallus konjac, also known as "devil's tongue," bloomed on campus this week. The plant is related to the corpse flower and has a smell reminiscent of rotting meat.
"People start to smell it and say, 'Oh, that's gross,' but I say, 'Not everything is roses,'" said Indiana University greenhouse supervisor John Leichter.
The greenhouse also has a corpse flower, but Leichter said it will not bloom again until 2027. He said the devil's tongue is the next best thing since it blooms every year.
"The bugs that pollinate it aren't bees," Leichter said. "It's beetles, cockroaches, and flies because it smells like dead meat."
Bloomington resident Valerie Merriam smelled IU's corpse flower when it last bloomed in 2023. She sought out the devil's tongue to compare the experiences.
"Compared to the corpse flower, it's nice," Merriam said. "As somebody said earlier, it's like smelling a dead mouse."
IU student Ellie Childress works inside the greenhouse and is already sick of smelling the devil's tongue.
"It's not my favorite smell," Childress said. "It kind of reminds me of this decontaminator that we have to put dead matter in. Cooking dead plant matter never smells good, it smells like garbage."
Leichter believes the beauty of the plant is stronger than its awful smell.
"I had a lady come in this morning who said, 'This stinks really bad,'" Leichter said. "I said, 'I can't even smell it.' It's just something you get used to.
The scent of the devil's tongue is expected to fade away by next week.
