Smells Like Dead Body? Giant ‘Corpse Plant’ Draws Crowds in Southern California

The bloom of a giant and stinky Sumatran flower nicknamed the “corpse plant” because it smells like a dead body is drawing huge crowds to a Southern California botanical garden. The bloom of the Amorphophallus titanum plant began Sunday afternoon at the San Diego Botanic Gardens in Encinitas. By Monday morning, timed-entry tickets had sold out, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. More than 5,000 people were expected to visit the garden by Tuesday evening. The bloom of the “corpse plant” lasts just 48 hours and during its peak it emits a putrid odor of rotting flesh to attract carrion beetles and flesh flies that help its pollination process. The blooming flower’s “rotting corpse smell that was so thick and heavy you could cut it with a knife,” said John Connors, horticulture manager for the San Diego Botanic Gardens.

In a similar incident, the endangered Sumatran Titan arum short bloom at a botanical garden in Warsaw, drawing crowds. Those wishing to avoid the smell and crowds could watch it on live video from the Warsaw University Botanical Gardens. Hundreds, if not thousands, lined up long into the night Sunday and Monday morning at the conservatory just to be able to pass by the flower and take a picture.

Know also as the Amorphophallus titanum, the flowering plant has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, which can be up to 3 meters (10 feet) high. Its compound flower is composed of a hollow, tall spadix with small flowers and a spathe, with one big, furrowed petal that is green on the outside and deep burgundy red on the inside. Its blooming is rare and unpredictable.

The plant only grows in the wild in the rainforests of Sumatra, but it is endangered there due to deforestation. Cultivation at botanical gardens, where they are a great visitor attraction, has helped its preservation. It’s the first known blooming outside Sumatra was in 1889 at London’s Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.

Smells Like Dead Body? Giant ‘Corpse Plant’ Draws Crowds in Southern California

The bloom of a giant stinky Sumatran flower has drawn crowds to a Southern California garden. The bloom of the plant began Sunday afternoon and by Monday morning timed-entry tickets had sold out.

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