Two corpse flowers bloomed simultaneously at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, drawing thousands of visitors eager to witness the rare and odorous event. The two titan arums, named Odorysseus and Odora, attracted more than 7,000 people on Monday after they unfurled over the weekend.
Brief and Intense Blooming Period
Each bloom of the corpse flower lasts only about 24 to 48 hours. Staff at the research facility notified the public on Sunday afternoon once the towering plants began opening. The flowers reached their peak overnight before slowly starting to close the following day. Despite the short window, visitors flocked to see the spectacle on Monday.
"They were enchanted by it," said Brandon Tam, curator of the Huntington's orchid collection. "People who lined up for three hours in our line just to see the corpse flowers for just a few minutes."
Public Fascination and Inspiration
The event sparked curiosity and inspiration among attendees. "People were curious, people were inspired," Tam added. "People started to fall in love, if they haven't already been falling in love, with plants because of this poster child of a plant that has led people to better understand that plants have a life of their own."
The excitement was so intense that advance tickets sold out by late Monday morning. The corpse flowers will remain on display until early August.
About the Corpse Flower
The titan arum, commonly known as the corpse flower, is famous for its pungent odor resembling rotting flesh. This smell attracts carrion beetles and flesh flies, which pollinate the endangered plant. Native to western Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse flower is not a single flower but a giant flowering structure composed of hundreds of tiny blooms. It can grow more than 12 feet tall and, after its brief flowering, collapses into a dormant period that can last years.
Conservation Efforts at the Huntington
The Huntington has cultivated titan arums for more than 25 years and currently houses over 43 mature specimens. Many of these plants originated from a successful pollination in 2002. "In 2002, we pollinated a corpse flower, which produced hundreds of fruits and therefore hundreds of seeds that we would propagate," Tam said. The seedlings were also shared with other botanical gardens across the United States to help conserve the species, of which fewer than 1,000 are believed to remain in the wild.
