ENCINITAS, Calif. — An Amorphophallus Titanum, also known as a corpse flower is blooming at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas. It's an eye-catching flower that doesn't bloom frequently.
“This happens infrequently every few years, two to seven years we will get a bloom,” San Diego Botanic Garden Senior Director of Facilities and Strategic Initiatives Brandi Eide said.
"Stinking Beauty" is the name of the flower in bloom. It gets its name from its powerful smell during the late nights or early mornings during its blooming phase.
“It smells anything from onion to diaper to a rotting carcass, rat or something like that and everything in between,” Eide said
The strong odor attracts pollinators like beetles or flesh-eating flies. The smell is meant to trick animals into thinking there's something tasty inside the flower.
“In doing that it traps them in the base for a while, makes them pollinate which then in turn just keeps the seed producing,” Eide said.
The flower will stay open for about three to four days before the spadix collapses and begins to rot. If the plants have been pollinated successfully, the fruits will stay around for about nine months and then the cycle begins again and it can become either a leaf or a flower.
“It's very rare that we're going to see these bloom, if you have never seen them or smelled them it's quite an experience,” Eide said.
The San Diego Botanic Garden is extending its hours during the bloom inside the Conservatory on Saturday from 7 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If you can't make it to the botanical garden you can view it live at sdbg.org
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