Image from Conservatory of Flowers

Common Name: Corpse Flower, Titan Arum
Family Name: Araceae
Native to: Sumatra, Indonesia

WHAT TO KNOW

Corpse Flower omits a “foul odor of rotting animal flesh” and only blooms for a few days every 7-10 years, according to the Conservatory.

This year’s flower, Suma the Titan, is a 10-year-old sibling of last year’s flower Terra the Titan and it will bloom for the first time.

The Conservatory of Flowers has extended its hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Wednesday.

“Oooh, that smell. Can’t you smell that smell?

Soon, many in San Francisco will be able to smell the pungent yet popular bloom of the Corpse Flower, which began to open Sunday at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, according to a conservatory spokesperson.

When Suma the Titan, an Amorphophallus titanum commonly known as Corpse Flower, reaches its peak bloom, it is accompanied with a foul smell in the evenings. The bloom will last for only 2-3 days, the conservatory said.

The scent is a deception device that tricks pollinators into thinking the plant is rotting organic matter, or as some describe it, rotting flesh, the conservatory said.

It’s the first bloom for Suma, a sibling to last year’s Corpse Flower bloom, Terra the Titan, the conservatory said.”

For tickets and more information, visit www.conservatoryofflowers.org.

(NBC News, July 22, 2018)