A Rare Corpse Flower Is About To Bloom At Brooklyn Botanic Garden, & It Smells Like Rotting Flesh
We’re always told to stop and smell the roses, but make sure the roses aren’t anywhere near this stinky flower! Brooklyn Botanic Garden is home to a rare flower, known as the corpse flower, though it certainly doesn’t smell like you’d expect–when the flower blooms it unleashes its infamous stench along with it. And a word of advice: you may want to plug up your nostrils, because it’s currently about to bloom!
The corpse flower, its scientific name being the Amorphophallus titanum, is currently situated at BBG’s Aquatic House. It blooms once every two to three years, and BBG announced in an Instagram post that it’s about to bloom in the coming days!
The corpse flower bloom only lasts for a duration between 2-3 days, according to the United States Botanic Garden. In cultivation, it’s expected to grow up to eight feet, but in its natural habitat it can grow to a staggering 12 feet!
BBG gardener Chris Sprindis stated that the flower at BBG is an “Amorphophallus gigas…a close relative of the more common in cultivation Amorphophallus titanum, the corpse flower that often makes the news. I think this is an equally impressive species, though less known in cultivation.”
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The flower’s nickname is credited to its stench which has often been described as rotting flesh or meat, so it’s probably a good thing it blooms for such a short window! The smell isn’t to scare people and animals off, though, rather it’s meant to attract pollinators who feast on dead animals. And Sprindis adds that though the one at BBG is a gigas, it will smell just as much as the titanum.
A corpse flower’s growth rate is sporadic, making it one of nature’s most unpredictable and alluring plants, so it’s certainly an exciting time when it does bloom, smell and all. It’s considered to be in full bloom once the spathe, or the large petal that wraps around the middle (a spiky center known as the spadix), is completely unfurled.
Stop by BBG’s Aquatic House soon to see (and smell!) this corpse come alive, which will likely start blooming in the coming days. Stay up to date with news of the bloom on BBG’s Instagram. You can also see a time lapse of a corpse flower blooming at NYBG in 2019 below:
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