Stinky Corpse Flower Blooms At Denver Botanic Gardens

DENVER, CO – Visitors to Denver's Botanic garden are lining up to ask, "What died in here?"

"Stinky" the botanic garden's 18-year-old Sumatran corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum), in the Marnie's Pavilion, is ready to pop. Fans are lining up to get a whiff, and buy the t-shirt.

Stinky first bloomed in August 2015 – making it the first corpse flower bloom in its history. A different plant, Little Stinker, bloomed in 2016.

The corpse flower is native to the islands of Indonesia. The quick-growing bloom has "a foul odor that resembles decaying flesh," the gardens said. The stench gets stronger until the middle of the night, when it tapers off till morning, botanists report. Why the smell? It stinks to make it more attractive to flies and carrion beetles that can pollinate the flower.

The bloom is a dramatic event in which dark burgundy leaves unfurl.

The botanic gardens published a chart to show how quickly Stinky grew in the past couple of weeks. Since the beginning of August, it's grown a bit every day, up to 4 inches daily.

Here's a time-lapse video of the last time Stinky bloomed:

If you'd like to see Stinky for yourself, gardens members can enter an hour early at 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 31.

• You can pre-order or pre-purchase your admission ticket and print out/save to your phone. The Gardens recommend alternate transportation to avoid parking congestion.

Find out more at the Denver Botanic Gardens website.

Image via Denver Botanic Gardens

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