ENCINITAS — The San Diego Botanic Garden welcomed a pungent but celebrated guest last week when a corpse flower bloomed for the first time inside the Dickinson Family Education Conservatory.
One of the world’s rarest and smelliest plants, the endangered corpse flower is native to the humid forests of Sumatra. Known as a carrion flower, it produces an odor that resembles rotting flesh when in bloom.
While corpse flowers have bloomed at the botanic garden in the past, this was the first bloom for a plant named Ozzy, which typically takes seven to 10 years to flower. Ozzy was donated to the garden in 2016.
“We are extremely fortunate to again be presenting a bloom from our permanent collection, the first bloom for this particular plant,” said Ari Novy, president and CEO of the garden. “The blooming of a corpse flower has become an international sensation, intriguing people from around the world with its fleeting flower. The heat and smell are used to attract pollinator insects, while also attracting curious humans excited to experience this beautiful and smelly rock star of the plant world.”
The flower opened its petals and released its notorious stench on Sept. 2. The odor lasted roughly 48 hours, fading by the morning of Sept. 4. While the smell is strongest in the evenings, the bloom itself typically remains upright for three to four days before closing and decaying.
Corpse flowers usually bloom only once every four to five years after the initial flowering, making each appearance a rare event. The garden’s most recent corpse flower showcase came last year, when two separate plants bloomed just weeks apart.
