Seriously...outside of erudite university botanists, who would want to have a tree that smells like rotting flesh on their residential property?

This unique tree is a native of Sumatra and belongs in its native habitat.

And as far as it becoming extinct, who cares?

I feel the same way about ginko trees.

Ginko trees like Fuji Apple trees and marijuana plants are male/female gender and while the female Fuji Apple trees and female cannabis plants bear useful fruit, the female ginko trees bear stinky fruit and soil the sidewalks.

Please don't tell me that I'm the only one left who appreciates the wonders of other species for their own sakes. Viewing other living organisms and their places in larger ecosystems merely through the lens of our own convenience is an unbelievably impoverished perspective.

The corpse flower evolved as it did because it plays a role in its ecosystem. Just because we can't appreciate it from where we live doesn't mean extinction wouldn't be highly problematic for its own environment.

@vmshadle
Species extinction is a part of nature as exemplified in Darwin's works.

"The corpse flower evolved as it did because it plays a role in its ecosystem. Just because we can't appreciate it from where we live doesn't mean extinction wouldn't be highly problematic for its own environment."

What goes on in Sumatra is of ecological insignificance to Palo Alto.

There are many now-extinct species that are hardly missed by the general population.

Let's focus on eradicating global epidemics rather than wasting time on trees that smell like dead bodies.

Would you plant one of these trees in your backyard?

I seriously doubt it.

When I was a kid I had some Venus Fly Trap plants.

I used to capture flies to feed them or drop a small piece of hamburger inside their flowers.

Long story short...I overfed them with hamburger meat and they eventually died.

Moral of the story...a vegan diet is healthier and I probably could have gotten by feeding them tofu.