Last week I posted about an upcoming blessed event at the Kenneth Post Lab Greenhouses at Cornell University.

Due to the 9.5 hour time difference between US Eastern Standard Time and India Standard Time I wasn’t always able to watch the “Greenhouse Cam” while it was filming, but I checked in whenever there was overlap.

You can tell from the looks on people’s faces, it’s really starting to stink.

What a quote to wake up to!

Additionally, as the plant is part of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Conservatory Collection, Cornell grad students in the plant biology and horticultural departments are conducting numerous studies.  These included using little air pumps to test the volatiles/scent compounds in the inner recesses of the inflorescence while it was still closed. They are taking the samples back to their lab to try to analyze the molecules that are responsible for the plant’s distinctive odor, their chemical precursors and timing of release.

And Kenneth Simpson, Professor of Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, performed an endoscopy to view the inside of the inflorescence.

Here is the first batch of endoscopy photos from inside the corpse plant. The images were acquired with a prototype Karl Storz endoscope. (The vet school is a Beta test site.). Contact me by land line, pager or carrier pigeon if you need more plantoscopy. Cheers! Kenny.

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If anyone believes that either the study of plant biology or those who study it are dull, I beg to differ!