We had been avidly following the @kewgardens tweets about the imminent blooming of a Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) of theirs as we had long wanted to see the world's largest flower and of course were intrigued by the repute of it's funky odour. It is native to western Sumatra where the Indonesians named it bunga bangkai, the corpse(carrion)flower.
We visited it just in time! After a hard day in yesterday's high temperatures the spathe was still standing and though a tad wilted towered above us. The flower was still exuding wafts reminiscent of the gutters of Petaling Street which may or may not have whelmed our synapses but we are now die-hard fans of this unconventional beauty (even more so when we discovered that when it is not flowering it is freckled). Sadly another rare spirit threatened by the palm oil industry and illegal logging.
We were also fortunate to witness the flowering of this curious Pachypodium and the Dasylirion wheeleri which had breached the conservatory glass.
These exotic marvels rent the stormy grey day and it was possible to step through space and time and experience wonder such like that of the 1700's when Peter Collinson et al had the world brought to London and curiosity and the curious prevailed.
On our way out the pelting rain drove us into a corner of Kew gardens we'd not visited before, the kitchen gardens and then the small physick garden behind Kew Palace.
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