Five years ago, Mr. Avent sold two voodoo lilies.

The $200 voodoo lily, Amorphophallus titanum, from Indonesia, sports a lone red 15-foot flower that smells like rotting meat (it's pollinated by flies).

Maybe it's the confidence of maturity, like having a martini and not apologizing (and offering one to your voodoo lily).

Scientists suspect that the genes that allow the voodoo lily to heat itself might someday be used to breed frost-resistant crops.

Its less awesome cousin, the Southeast Asian voodoo lily, has fascinated botanists for two centuries.

Global gardening continues to fire the craze for jungle plants: bananas, cannas, voodoo lilies and elephant ears.

"I've seen the voodoo lily called scented, and it sure does have a smell."

Some are scientific renditions, showing, for example, life phases of the voodoo lily.

The voodoo lily uses the energy-producing organelles in its cells, known as mitochondria, to produce heat.

Some species are called voodoo lily, as are some species of Typhonium (also in the Araceae).