Because its flower blooms infrequently and only for a short period, it gives off a powerful scent of rotting flesh to attract pollinators.

The leaf grows on a patterned green and white petiole or stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets.

[8][9] The inflorescence of an arum consists of a tall fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, shaped like an upside-down bell, resembling a petal.

[4] As the spathe gradually opens, the spadix heats up to 37 °C (99 °F), and rhythmically releases a powerful odor to attract carrion insects which feed on or lay their eggs in rotting meat.

[9] The potency of the odor gradually increases from late evening until the middle of the night, when carrion beetles and flesh flies are active as pollinators, then tapers off towards morning.

[4] Analyses of chemicals released by the spadix show the stench includes dimethyl trisulfide (like limburger cheese), dimethyl disulfide (garlic), trimethylamine (rotting fish), isovaleric acid (sweaty socks), benzyl alcohol (sweet floral scent), phenol (like Chloraseptic), and indole (like feces).

The spathe and the upper part of the spadix wither away, leaving a short spike bearing a column of bright red fruits.

[15] Beccari discovered the plant on 6 August 1878 in the rainforest in the hills above Priaman, Western Sumatra, and brought a dried inflorescence, tubers, and seeds back to Europe.

[19][18] Plants in the genus all have a single locule inside the ovary, and are found across tropical Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Japan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.

[30] The tallest documented inflorescence was at Meise Botanic Garden; on 13 August 2024 it reached 3.225 metres (10.58 ft) in height.

[31] In cultivation, the titan arum generally requires five to ten years of vegetative growth before blooming for the first time.

[32] Anomalous flowerings have been documented, including consecutive blooms within a year,[33] and a tuber simultaneously sending up both a leaf (or two) and an inflorescence.

[34] Triplet inflorescences have been recorded from Bonn, Germany (from a 117 kg (258 lb) tuber),[9][35] and at the Chicago Botanic Garden in May 2020.

[39] Self-pollination was once considered impossible but, in 1992, botanists in Bonn successfully hand-pollinated their plant with its own pollen, using ground-up male flowers, resulting in fruiting and hundreds of seeds from which numerous seedlings were produced and distributed.