The Flower That Smells Like Death

[@radixtoken1058]

Tom Scott: goes up to notoriously smelly flowers and takes a deep breath

[@reflex3843]

Radix Token His reaction was seriously hilarious.

[@m3rl1on]

Radix Token for science!

[@EightThreeEight]

@@m3rl1on And comedy.

[@josefinapaje8220]

😂

[@Sovereignty3]

Sadist?

[@SoOth3rsMayLiv3]

Seriously, how do you find out about this stuff. Watching your channel is like browsing wikipedia on random except I don't have to try 1000 pages to find something interesting. Each video is awesome.

[@Meeran]

he gets contacted by people, they get free advertisement, and he gets cool content

[@flyhighpizzapie]

The Eden Project isn't exactly an unknown thing. He even said he was invited there too...

[@justaboi4791]

You must live in some nolife province to not know of botanical gardens casually having blooming corpse flowers.

[@MidtownSkyport]

he browses random wikipedia pages so we don't have to

[@anotherwildeboy]

The Eden project is very popular. I recommend going it is very good!

[@Electroporcupine]

At 00:13 Tom walks past a photo of himself smelling the flower, further proof that Tom is clearly a Time Lord.

[@doge6530]

14th doctor confirmed?

[@SodAlmighty]

A Tom Lord.

[@-LamiaSage-]

he's clearly ginger on the picture, so it can't be

[@youraverageguy8431]

he's an omnipotent supreme being

[@RentedRedux]

I surprised you didn't mention its technical name "Amorphophallus titanum", literally means "giant misshapen penis" from Ancient Greek, and was given the nickname "titan arum" to avoid the meaning behind the name.

[@writwits5826]

Phallus. Hah

[@yoinkerman8524]

Hey dude, look at this flower, it's called a giant misshapen penis

[@Kira-xt1vh]

Nice

[@albaitharmuhammad4411]

FYI, "arum" is from Malayan words mean smells in English... This plant is native of Sumatra.

[@jgcodes2020]

well the big top of the flower does look like a peen

[@rayday4644]

48 hours every few years? This plant is getting more action than me

[@doge6530]

Same bro

[@andiwd]

2:39 Is that a picture of Tom smelling the flower in the Background whilst he's in a video smelling the flower?

[@rohentahir4696]

This is a video from a future past

[@zacharyhan4351]

i have just noticed that :O

[@henriquejambu]

Continuity error

[@LiamNajor]

Guy's too bald.

[@justarandomlad3756]

At 00:13 also

[@metropod]

the next day, Tom's nose filed for divorce...

[@zenithaeon2272]

XD

[@GammaMAXXdotcom]

His name isn’t really Tom Scott... It’s Tom Riddle

[@foty8679]

@@GammaMAXXdotcom You mean his name will be Tom Scott if his nose left

[@josefinapaje8220]

hahahahah

[@kovatoro]

Fun fact: botanophobia is the fear of plants. And these things are absolutely terrifying to look at

[@brandonmonchez3660]

I agree with you about the corpse flower this flower is smells awful but it looks terrifying

[@cursedcliff7562]

Imagine just sticking your hand in there, fun times

[@Cobalt985]

@Ved Kolambkar Doubtful

[@Art1_Sec8]

...any chance you've seen a certain SNL sketch featuring Christopher Walken?

[@jadethegingergoblin718]

Bless you, Tom. You are a scholar and a gentleman for smelling that horrible thing so none of us have to. Also, I graduated high school in 2007, and this ended up being one of the nominees for our class flower thanks to some of my completely ridiculous classmates. I am completely ridiculous as well because I voted for it, but alas, the winner in the end was the Cala Lily. It would have been kind of humorous if we had all been given artificial corpse flowers at graduation.

[@BabPenguin]

This where I wish we had Google Smell... :(

[@PhilBoswell]

No…no, you don't…really, you do not.

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

for educational stuff yeah... but remember the trolls? jumpscares with loud sounds.. would be really bad smells

[@dannyclub09]

Conversely, this is where I'm glad it hasn't been invented.

[@flower-ld5id]

digital stink bombs

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

+whoeveriam0iam14222 Yeah, videos would be titled like "10 SMELLS YOU WILL NEVER FORGET" and to be honest they wouldn't even be lying :D

[@sahotaquack1]

Anyone know how old Tom is? He seems to look old and young at the same time

[@dannyclub09]

Hahaha, I know what you mean.

[@ahmadalkhateeb1180]

^^

[@Jontheawsome92]

Tom is 31 years old

[@rossm97]

Born January 1985. So 31.

[@mixtermuxter8602]

he is actually a timelord

[@RedHillian]

Entirely worth it, just to see Tom sniff the thing.

[@ncc74656m]

As my chemistry teacher used to say to my classmates, "Sonny boy... WAFT, do not INHALE."

[@realprisec]

Waft? What’s does that mean

[@Archman155]

@@realprisec 1) Why are you replying to a four year old comment 2) "In chemistry and other sciences, it is a term of laboratory safety. In "wafting" a person takes an open hand with the palm towards the body and moves their hand over the substance in a gentle circular motion so as to lift vapors of the substance towards the nose."

[@realprisec]

Archman 155 1) why are you replying to a 4 year old comment

[@Archman155]

@@realprisec what? your reply iss 5 hours old

[@realprisec]

Archman 155 it says 4 replies,(5 now) yours is one of them

[@DogsRNice]

I've smelled one of these Do not do it

[@lewismassie]

Thank you for your sound advice

[@HanabiraKage]

Your warning came too late for poor Tom though. Can't say I've ever smelt this or rotting corpses, but I've been to an organic farm once and smelt the rotting plants they were using as fertiliser. I literally doubled over and gagged purely due to the smell. Therefore I think I can safely second this warning. Do not do it.

[@imranhq13]

did u die?

[@DogsRNice]

+Imran Haque ya

[@KendrickMan]

im gonna do it if i ever get a chance

[@AnkaaAvarshina]

Fun fact: It's genus name, _Amorphophallus_, means "misshapen penis" in Latin.

[@dkpsyhog]

That's hilarious XD Are you sure you're not revealing too much about your tastes with that profile pic?

[@lotrbuilders5041]

Ankaa Avarshina not-shapen penis would be more accurate

[@raassh23]

And "arum" is javanese for smells good

[@hotelmario510]

Even better: Misshapen _erection_

[@MazeFrame]

It smells like death. Only logical reaction: Take a HUGE SNIFF!

[@winkerdude]

I must admit that I am glad I never had the opportunity to smell one. Thank you again Tom for broadening our horizons.

[@hiimsimon]

wtf is wrong with me i was waiting to smell it and then when i was typing something i was like "wait its a video"

[@Havron]

Don't feel bad. I once tried to Shazam a smell.

[@Noosh_noot]

@@Havron _what_

[@Infinite_Archive]

@@Havron Imagine if it had worked though.

[@Havron]

@@Infinite_Archive Billion dollar idea there, if anyone can work out how to do it...

[@Blade_Of_Heaven]

Wha- Huh- Ah‽

[@VeraTheTabbynx]

I love how nobody's talking about its name. The corpse flower is also known as "titan arum", or "Amorphophallus Titanium" to give it its full taxonomic classification. That is latin for "gigantic malformed penis" and the shortened "titan arum" just means "giant penis".

[@ShadowKick32]

"it got past it's worth" *takes a goos whiff* hilarity ensues

[@CardCaptorKaren]

The Eden Project is simultaniously the most amazing place I've been (rainforest, good lemonade, great pasties) and the most unpleasant (gigantic sweatdome).

[@tommyhomola9841]

Seriously this guy is one of the best content creators on this site. Concise, informative and interesting, even on topics i may be familiar with. Good on you, Tom Scott

[@yukigamine]

My school recently had a Titan Arum bloom in an on-campus greenhouse. It was pretty incredible to see!

[@Huntracony]

Ohh, those are fancy new annotations.

[@ahmadalkhateeb1180]

mobile.... :(

[@Huntracony]

ahmad al khateeb They work on mobile. At the end of the video the channel icons and the video suggestion should be click/tap -able.

[@ahmadalkhateeb1180]

+Huntracony wow you are right I never knew!

[@ClashBerry]

thanks for letting me know! I always wanted that for mobile :D

[@sasuke2910]

And you can't disable them, goodie!

[@OrchidWebTV]

Hey Tom! Thanks for sharing this. We just bloomed one of these on June 14th, and put up a video about it on our channel as well. We had never seen the plant giving off that visible smoke until this year, and were quite fascinated with it!

[@BoterBug]

2:40: For a split second I thought that was a picture of Tom leaning over and sniffing one, behind Tom just after he had leaned over and sniffed one.

[@akshay5895]

Evolution is crazy! congrats on 500,000!

[@Tippex_Official]

Of all the places I’d expect Tom to go I never expect the Eden project for some bizarre reason.

[@2142shade2142]

The specimen in the Botanical Garden in Copenhagen has bloomed every other year in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

[@flavoredsnacks9979]

Congrats on 500K subs tom!

[@nicholashoi3155]

Madone6 1 million now

[@A.B.D.555]

2.6 M now........

[@alexm7023]

2:38 Tom, is that you on the promotional poster behind you?

[@MrRayne911]

Tom how the hell do you find all the amazing crap you are showing us?! I am blown away like every second vid you show and it is an amazing ratio to be mind blown!

[@heyhococo]

And that, is something, you don't want to smell.

[@smallpaulissmall5582]

I already knew about this because the Simpsons had an episode about the corpse flower. Thanks for all you, Tom and Matt!

[@warren2502]

Nearly at 500k Tom - congratulations! Keep up the great work!

[@TheInselaffen]

Is Tom turning into a silver fox? Still rocking that 90's centre parting tho.

[@MiyanagiDeswira]

Tom: *huge sniff at Amorphophallus titanum The flower: "so you choosen death"

[@josephbirss4126]

you did it again how could you!!!!!! you didn't say "and that is something... you might not of known" that's one of the best bits

[@TheDJroombaGaming]

Flower that smells like a zombie: *exists* Tom: SNIIIIIIFFFFFFF

[@Ryan336546]

2:35 - Me smelling my own fart

[@aaebsssb9914]

absolute unit

[@peter_smyth]

Glad to see you got the camera angles right for this video!

[@traposucio2944]

Can't wait to give that as a present to someone

[@dkecskes2199]

Thank you Tom for showing us this and so many other cool things!

[@tweezerjam]

This dudes timing is On Point 👍🏼

[@StYxXx]

We have those plants in our city zoo. When they're blooming they'll open the premise until late night and people are waiting in line to see and smell it. They're actually paying to smell a dead rat. Why don't they just visit me and enjoy the smell of my flatmate's room? I guess it's basically the same. But well, the flower is one of the largest in the world and it's kind of nice...

[@sniffer5098]

It's 1:02am and I got school tomorrow. I got to stop watching Tom 😂

[@KFCJones]

the biggest laugh I've had from a Tom Scott video

[@JennStrobel]

There's also a corpse flower at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA. It's named Romero and it's set to bloom at the end of this month.

[@KingCulta]

I haven't been to the Eden Project for years and I really want to go again.

[@nerdbot4446]

Satan's lapel flower is pretty big

[@satan1189]

Yep

[@mexicanslollipops]

Just watched your subscriber count jump over 500,000- congrats!

[@Chippler582]

has no one noticed that tom is in one of the pictures on the ten years of blooming sign thing?

[@flyinhigh7681]

I bet you it smells like middle school micro wave that hasn't been cleaned in over two years because the students are too disgusted to clean it and the janitor is useless

[@DavidWillanski]

I saw/smelled one of these in February. I thought "it's not that bad", it turns out the smell has a cycle and I saw it in the "stale beer, rotten cheese and old socks" phase.

[@furrettheferret9562]

I’ve actually been to the Eden project and I actually told my friends about this. When they asked how I knew I told them about you so you now have new subs I guess.

[@Colaglass]

Ah, humanity. Travel thousands of miles to smell death.

[@Lockirby2]

I'm too lazy so I just went outside and murdered somebody. Kappa

[@danieldionne2037]

This guys job title is storyteller, that’s the dream.

[@Sinom.]

I love that he sais it takes 7-10 years before it blooms again when in germany there is one that has since it has grown to sice bloomed yearly xD

[@raving_1074]

What an amazing design for a plant.

[@mattlynch1268]

Even more fascinating about the Eden Project is that they're working on a 4MW geothermal power plant.

[@Gold_Tail]

That plants strategy sounds like my personal life

[@xusdk]

You never talked how this plant goes about collecting this energy for tears, and how it is stored.. I have of course found out for myself, and found it moderately interesting ;)

[@entoris476]

What a lad. He just took one good whiff like a man.

[@colorado841]

Tom Scott walking up to an alligator in an zoo exhibit: "...I got here to late...apparently the gators aren't quite has hungry as they used to be but hu..." sticks his head in an alligators mouth.

[@Foebane72]

(sniffs flower and retches) Oh, Tom, thank you for suffering for our entertainment.

[@OfficialScottR]

You're very close to 500k subscribers tom!

[@MrEDMeaner]

I for one am glad that smells can not yet be projected via the internet.

[@pgwchaos]

Videos like this show that it is a good thing they haven't invented smell-o-vision. :D

[@justineo5529]

Tom Scott stopping to smell the flowers for youtube.

[@rEaLmOfInSaNiTy]

we have one in a local university. When the thing blooms, you can small it from the street a good bit away. I've smelled a decaying body on 2 occasions (dead neighbors rotting for a bit...) and it's not very far off.

[@hindosgottenberg237]

Haha The Eden Project's perfume 'advert' is hilarious. Thanks Tom :)

[@justinhowlett]

If it stores a lot of energy for years, I wonder how well it burns.

[@oppo210]

Would it smell like a burning corpse then?

[@Cobalt985]

NO DON'T

[@MagikGimp]

Something you really should experience in a lifetime, but don't really want to get too close to do so. I'll have mine from way over there thanks!

[@theguywithevids]

There's one in Chicago at the botanical gardens. It bloomed last year. You should come and visit!

[@artytalks3464]

i love the eden project. i used to live an hour a away when i was little, so i've been their about 10 times. i havent been for a while though

[@korytnacka2004]

Hi Tom! Thank you for this video! There is an article about the Eden project in our Face2Face English study book by Cambridge. This is a great video to add to this lesson!

[@Xapper0]

So, wait... What's a rafflesia, then?

[@ClockworkAngel]

There are many flowers known as "corpse flowers". Rafflesia and this one are two of them.

[@Xapper0]

Ahh... That makes more sense...

[@desromic]

Every fact blew me away! Wow!

[@Bagg1e5]

has anyone walked to the very top of the eden project. you will literally be soaked in sweat on cold days

[@RaExpIn]

I've seen one of these flowers some time ago and it didn't smell that bad, but I guess I was too late. Still a fascinating plant! Nice video! :)

[@SageModeisOn]

That plant has to be extremely unique .. something must grow in that little time that people can use for medicine or something.

[@adamm9209]

so cool to see you right next to where i live

[@ame9418]

in indonesia we call that 'bunga bangkai' which is the direct translation of corpse flower, and we have that planted on monas tower in jakarta. *flies away*

[@stellarfirefly]

Even with the thermal strategy mentioned, 48 hrs once every ~7 years still seems like far too small of a window to be viable. Assuming that whatever carrion insects that it attracts won't carry around its pollen indefinitely, this plant would need to rely on another of its own kind being ready to receive pollen within a similar 48-hr window once every 7 years as well. Even if you assume a (seemingly reasonable?) 96-hr viability timeframe for the pollen, that still requires an average of 639 other corpse flowers within the travel distance of the pollinating insects so that a second one (on the average) will bloom in time.

[@castill0820]

It worked for them this long why change it

[@AndrewWilsonStooshie]

Prime numbers of years are extremely common in reproduction in nature. Especially if the whole population does it at the same time. It's a great way to avoid predation.

[@DasOmen02]

Ok but it WAS viable lmao it literally evolved into this has been like this for probably centuries on centuries

[@aarond0623]

There was a corpse flower blooming at the Botanic Gardens in D.C. a couple years ago that I got to see. It was really cool.

[@DWRcreative]

Went there when the three titans were in bloom, magical time.

[@MiaStrikes]

I would carry this around in a zombie apocalypse and SURVIVE

[@abdulrafay8838]

it will attract zombies. BTW there r no zombies

[@davidwhitlock4526]

You haven't seen my morning face :)

[@kaiufkdlsmf]

'We tell ourselves... that *we* are the walking corpse flowers' ^_^

[@caydens.1250]

Well, you would have makeup like a zombie... and then it might work

[@totallymady42069]

Sure, for 48 hours every decade or so.

[@snickerdoodlestudios4939]

Reading a book and they talked about this. I was about to look it up but then BOOM!

[@Azaekesh]

Sometimes you shouldn't stop to smell the flowers.

[@joshuabates1355]

Looking like a bad dragon

[@czu4877]

Now all we need is a flower that smells like teen spirit

[@R421Excelsior]

Endless forms most beautiful.

[@thenarstar]

Hey Tom, is that you from ten years ago on that guide board at 0:13?

[@gabrielfriedel4754]

a plant with basically human body temperature, i've seen everything, i'm off

[@trippedbreaker]

Another very large and putrid flower is rafflesia arnoldii, which is the world's largest single flower. The amorphophallus titanum is larger, but it's more like a floral cluster, comprising many tiny individual flowers in the central column.

[@safe-keeper1042]

Okay, so if I see one, I won't stuff my face in it. Lesson learned, thanks Tom.

[@TheGreaterDane]

Titan Arum: Is famous for smelling like a rotting corpse Tom Scott: "Lemme stick my nose in there real quick..."

[@sealer24]

in copenhagen botanical garden they have made it bloom 3 times withing the last six years. so that is once every 2 years as of this year. they are hopefull that they will be able to make it bloom more often or atleast as often as they are doing now.

[@enthusiasticgeek7237]

a garden close to where we live has a corpse flower and i regret not going there to see it