Corpse Flower at the Huntington conservatory
Corpse Flower at the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens
Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the titan arum, is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. Due to its odor, which is like the smell of a rotting corpse or carcass, the titan arum is also known as the corpse flower. Although the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens has more than 50 Corpse Flower plants in their greenhouse, the plant has bloomed there just five times since 1999. When the plant first bloomed in ’99 it drew more than 12,000 visitors to the Huntington Conservatory, and it was the first time a Corpse Flower had ever been on exhibit in California.
In cultivation, the titan arum generally requires 7–10 years of vegetative growth before blooming for the first time. After its initial blooming, there can be considerable variation in blooming frequency. Some plants may not bloom again for another 7–10 years while others may bloom every two to three years. The most recent Corpse Flower bloom at the Huntington was on Thursday, August 16th and remained bloomed for 24 hours.
Conservatory at Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens
If you want to track the bloom of all the other corpse flowers progress, follow the Huntington’s Instagram page and Twitter feed @TheHuntington, where it is referred to lovingly as “Li’l Stinker.”
The Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 626.405.2100
