Watch Rare Corpse Flower Bloom At WSU Vancouver

VANCOUVER, WA — While it may not be as momentous as awaiting the live birth of a baby giraffe, sometime within the next three or four weeks an odoriferous blend of rotten fish and dirty socks will waft across Washington State University Vancouver with the quadrennial blooming of a rare corpse flower housed at the campus greenhouse on the east end of the Science and Engineering Building.

Planted as a small seed about 18 years ago, the corpse flower — locally known as Titan VanCoug — has been cared for by WSU's own Steve Sylvester, an associate professor of molecular biosciences. Sylvester reportedly grew the flower on his desk until it became too large for a small space. Eventually the flower was moved to a stairwell in WSU Vancouver’s Science and Engineering Building, where it grew for more than a decade before being moved outside because, as Sylvester told OPB, "It'll stink too much."

Titan VanCoug, formally known in scientific communities as Amorphophallus titanum, or just titan arum, could live about 40 years or so, with its first bloom typically occurring after seven or 10 years of growth.

According to WSU Vancouver, Titan VanCoug's apparently late first bloom was most likely caused by the way it was cloned from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's corpse flower, Big Bucky.

When it finally blooms sometime near the end of July or early August, the corpse flower will spread its leaves — and release its pungent corpsey smell — for 24 to 48 hours, during which time WSU Vancouver visitors and botany enthusiasts can take it all in either on campus or via a live stream currently running on the WSU Vancouver YouTube channel (to save your nostrils).

Evidently, the smell is actually how the flower continues to exist, with its bloom attracting pollinators such as dung beetles, flesh flies, and other carnivorous insects.

To see this rare flower yourself, visit the WSU Vancouver campus between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, or from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Campus officials also said hours may be adjusted if the bloom occurs over a weekend. The YouTube live stream, of course, is available 24/7.