This story was originally published on Undark and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than 300,000 people viewed it online. But despite the corpse flower’s fame, its future is uncertain. The roughly 500 specimens that were living in botanical gardens…
