Rare Corpse Flower blooms at Daniel Stowe Garden

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden’s rare Amorphophallus titanum, or corpse flower, began blooming July 13 for the first time in the Orchid Conservatory.

The bloom show went on for about 36 hours for the plant known to have a strong odor described as rotting flesh.

Joseph Carmago, 5, of Charlotte, was one of 1,600 garden guests who viewed the plant in bloom July 14.

“It smells like a dead cat,” he said.

The garden named it Morphius and extended hours for visitors to see.

“It’s unbelievable really,” said Greg Wells of Belmont who came out July 14 to see it. “I didn’t expect it to be that big.”

It grew to more than 4 feet tall. Wells, like other visitors, snapped what the garden staff coined Stinky Selfies by the plant.

By July 15, the plant no longer emitted its pungent odor when the flower was ready for pollination. Garden staff cut the spathe back to give guests a rare view of the interior of the plant.

“It actually finished blooming on Wednesday,” said Jim Hoffman, director of marketing for the garden. “If you count that entire period, about 4,200 people saw it.”

The garden acquired the plant, native to Sumatra, from Carolina Orchids in 2012. The Titan Arum produces one of the largest flower structures once every three to 10 years. It’s called flower structure or inflorescence because the structure is made up of the spathe (wrapped around the spadix that has a flower-like appearance when it opens). The spadix is the flower-bearing spike that emerges from the spathe. Rows of flowers can be found at the base of the spadix.

“So often we attempt to force horticulture into a schedule to present fresh and exciting displays for our guests,” said Peter Grimaldi, director of horticulture. “The flowering of the Titan Arum is the perfect example of a plant on its own timeline.”

This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Rare Corpse Flower blooms at Daniel Stowe Garden."