If you’ve ever wanted to see one of the strangest wonders in nature and want to smell it, now is your chance.
The famous corpse flower, officially known as the Amorphophallus Titanum, is currently in bloom at the Huntington Library, Museum and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. But don’t wait – the bloom lasts only about 24-48 hours, and the clock is ticking.
Called “Green Boy” because of this unusually green spadix (it’s tall, fleshly spikes in the center of the flower), this particular plant last bloomed in 2021.
Why a big fuss? Well, you can’t experience every day 6 feet tall tropical plants that smell like rotten meat. The smell is not just shocking value. It is a flower strategy to attract pollinators like wild flies and beetles. The scent has earned the nickname “Smelling Plant.”
Titanalum, located in the rainforest of Western Sumatra, Indonesia, is at risk, and is believed to have less than 1,000 plants remaining in the wild. Its flowering is unpredictable and short-lived. Some plants go for decades, even decades, without flowering.
Since 1999, Huntington has held more corpse flower flowers than any other institution in the western United States, with “Green Boy” recording the 28th. Visitors can check out during regular garden opening hours (10am to 5pm) or catch it on a live stream at huntington.org/corpse-flower.
The Huntington plant team is using this bloom as a chance to talk about conservation. Staff pollinate flowers by hand, gather seeds and share them with other institutions, keeping the seeds alive both in the greenhouse and, preferably in the wild.
Yes, it smells bad. But it’s surprisingly, strange, seriously unusual, and you only have a day or two to see it acting.
Bring your curiosity – and perhaps a laundry bag for your nose.
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