Not Smelling Like a Rose

Many will remember the Disney cartoon "Bambi" in it Bambie the deer meets up with a skunk. Bambi was trying to learn what everything around him was called. He learned that the colorful blooms he saw were flowers and when a skunk emerged from the flowers he looked at it and said, "Flower." Unfortunately, it was not a flower and if it had been it would have been a very smelly flower but the skunk accepted being called Flower. So remembering that from my childhood I decided to write about both the smelliest flowers and the smelliest animals in the world in one article.

On the African continent, you'll find striped polecats. They look similar to skunks but are even stinkier. These are solitary creatures that hunt by night. They are also very aggressive and territorial animals that mark their territory with feces and an anal spray. The spray is so powerful that it temporarily blinds predators, irritating the mucus membranes and producing an intense burning sensation. The smell alone can deter anyone from approaching the polecat.

From the Mediterranean region comes a lovely velvet colored rod-shaped flower called Dioscorides. It was named after the famous Greek botanist Pedanius Dioscorides. As lovely as this flower might look it is known for its rotten flesh smell. The flower blooms in the spring wafting out its strong, pungent smell of arum dioscorides to attract pollinators.

The Lesser Anteater might look cute but you would not want to get near it. The odor that comes from this animal is about 4 to 7 times stronger than the smell that emits from a skunk. The Lesser Anteater makes its home in South America. It communicates by hissing and when threatened will release its foul smell.

Another beautiful carrion flower the stapelia gigantea emits also emits a rotten flesh smell. It is lovely to look at with starry pale yellow flowers looking like starfish and has been called African starfish but you would not want to pick this flower. It grows in the tropical regions of Southeastern Africa and its smell is made to attract pollinators. This giant plant blooms in mid-summer and its pungent smell is very unpleasant and emits for long distances.

The African Elephant or Big Bull Elephant isn't stinky all the time just for a few weeks each year. Its testosterone level increases 60 times the normal level for those few weeks and at this time the elephant dribbles 80 gallons of urine making everything around it very smelly indeed.

The dragon arum is a very impressive plant located in the rocky and hilly areas of the Mediterranean basin. It is also known by other names like The plant is also known as black arum, snake lily, dragonwort, stink lily and voodoo lily. The plant grows to a height of 1 meter with a large, showy, maroon-purple flower that bursts forth in late spring. The flower has a long tail like a spike. As lovely as it is to look at the smell is awful like rotting meat but it attracts pollinators.

The skunk has always been known for its smell. These animals use their anal scent glands to defend themselves against predators. The glands produce a liquid that has a highly offensive smell. The odor can even make bears back off and if it gets sprayed on humans it is difficult to get off of clothing.

The Western skunk cabbage got its name for the skunky smell its flower emits. The plant grows in the swamps and woodlands of the US states Alaska, California, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Oregon. The plant blooms in early spring and winter with rod-shaped flowers in bright yellow. Growing to a height of 40cm the skunky smell attracts scavenging flies as pollinators.

The bombardier beetle was named after the mixture of chemicals it fires from its rear. When feeling threatened the beetle heat up and then releases hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide, mixing it with enzymes. This boiling, stinky liquid makes any predator back away quickly.

The Bulbophyllum Phalaenopsis is the worst smelling orchid in the world. It grows on the island of New Guinea emitting a fragrance even worse than rotting meat. Its hairy, pinkish-red flowers grow in clusters and it is known for its leaves that can reach up to a length of 4ft. Maybe lovely to see but unpleasant due to its foul smell.

The Hoatzin is also called the Stink Bird. This tropical bird makes its home in the Amazon and Orinoco Delta in South America. This smelly bird's diet consists mainly of leaves and it uses bacterial fermentation in the front of its gut to break down the vegetable material. The combination of the fermentation process produces a very disagreeable, manure-like smell.

The unusual parasite plant hydrona Africana is native to Southern Africa. The plant grows underground and only the flower it produces can be seen above ground. The flower is tubular with three thick openings. The outer part of the flower is brown and the inner part is bright orange. Unfortunately even though beautiful it emits a smell like feces which attracts dung beetles and carrion beetles for pollination.

The Tasmanian Devil lives on the Australian island of Tasmania. When under stress these animals give off a powerful odor to protect their environment.When relaxed the animal is not smelly.

Rafflesia arnoldii is the largest individual flower in the world. It is a parasitic plant that grows only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. The plant is leafless and rootless and known for its strong decaying flesh smell. Due to this smell, the plant is also called the corpse flower. Its terrible odor attracts carrion flies for pollination.

The musk ox is a furry, horned mammal living in the Arctic. It gives off a smelly musk with its urine. It smelly musk is only produced by the males to make their territory during mating season. During this time much of the urine gets matted into their hair around the underbelly giving them a terrible smell.

The Dead Horse Arum Lily is an elegant flower unfortunately it emits the scent of a dead horse. On warm sunny days, the flower will unroll releasing its terrible odor. When this happens only the female flowers are receptive and flies are lured deep into their hairy spadix and stay trapped for a day, The male flower shed their pollen and the flies are released covered by the pollen going into cross-pollination creating another Dead Horse Arum Lily.