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Corpse bride? At ´ºÉ«ÊÓƵ, we have corpse flowers

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A man crouching in the dark, watching a big red flower.
´ºÉ«ÊÓƵ Botanical Conservatory Manager Ernesto Sandoval checks out the corpse flower at full bloom.

Corpse Bride, meet the corpse flowers at the ´ºÉ«ÊÓƵ Botanical Conservatory. The largest bloom in the world, the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) flower is really a cluster of many flowers growing from the same base. It can take 15 years for the plant to become big enough to produce a bloom. That may be a good thing because when it does, it emits a powerful fragrance akin to rotten eggs, rotten meat or, yes, a corpse. But instead of repelling, the blooming corpse flower has attracted thousands of people to the conservatory to meet — and smell — it in all its putrid glory. 

The last time a corpse flower bloomed at ´ºÉ«ÊÓƵ was 2012, but friends of foul flowers should get their chance for a wicked whiff soon! The conservatory expects two, and possibly four, corpse flowers to bloom next year, one of which will most likely be , which has already bloomed five times since 2003.

Media Resources

Kat Kerlin, Research news (emphasis on environmental sciences), 530-750-9195, kekerlin@ucdavis.edu

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