Following last month’s rare bloom of a pungent corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum), San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG) has a second corpse flower that began to bloom on Wednesday. The flower, on display in the Dickinson Family Education Conservatory, emits its strong odor for only 48 hours once it reaches full bloom.
The odor is strongest in the evening, so the garden will extend its hours to midnight July 17 (last entry at 11 p.m.), then 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 18 (last entry at 9 p.m.) and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 19 (last entry at 7 p.m.) at 300 Quail Gardens Drive at Ecke Ranch Road in Encinitas. After-hours visits will have access to the conservatory space only. The flower will remain on display during regular daytime hours until it decays.
For those unable to visit in person, a 24-hour live stream of the plant is available online.
“We are extremely fortunate to be presenting our second corpse flower bloom of the year from a plant within our permanent collection,” said Ari Novy, SDBG president and CEO. “This particular plant is a sibling to the plant that just bloomed here in late June. The response to that recent bloom was incredible, and we cannot wait to share this experience with the community once again. If you didn’t have a chance to come check out the last bloom, this is your opportunity.”
The blooming of a corpse flower is a rare and special event, as most of these plants require seven to 10 years to produce their first blooms, and they bloom only every four to five years thereafter. This particular corpse flower is the “sibling” of the last corpse plant, which bloomed at the garden on June 28. These two plants appear to be on the same cycle, as both have previously bloomed within 30 days of each other, first in 2018 and a second time, also together, in 2021. This plant’s previous bloom in 2021 was named “Jack Smellington.”
The corpse flower gets its name from its odor, which has been commonly described as a rotting corpse or carcass. Once in full bloom, the plant will emit its stench for just two days, and then stay up for three to four days before it begins to close and slowly decay over the following days.
Native to the rainforests of Sumatra, the corpse flower is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with an estimation of fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining in the wild. Botanic gardens across the world work together to preserve the genetic diversity of plants like this one by sharing pollen, seed and plant materials. SDBG will collect and store pollen from this bloom, with hopes of sharing out to other botanic gardens to broaden the gene pool and help conserve the plant.
Ticket reservations are required. After-hours admission on specified bloom days includes entrance to the Conservatory building only. SDBG members receive free admission. Pricing for non-members is $18 for adults, $10 for children ages 3 to 12, and free for ages 2 and under. Discounted pricing is available for military, students and seniors ages 60 and older. For more information on San Diego Botanic Garden and to plan your visit, go to sdbg.org.
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