COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s a flower that doesn’t bloom very often.

What You Need To Know

  • A corpse flower is blooming at The Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus 

  • It's a rare, endangered flower that takes years to bloom

  • The flower smells like rotting flesh when it blooms 

“This one behind me actually bloomed back in 2020,” said Alexis Lorentzen, horticulture manager for Franklin Park Conservatory.

But when it does, it makes its presence known.

“It’s commonly known as the corpse flower, so it smells like rotting corpse or rotting flesh. To me, it kind of smelled like raw chicken if you left it in the trash for too long, but it can smell pretty pungent,” Lorentzen said.

But it’s that unpleasant smell and the unique look it has when it blooms that’s attracting people from all over to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus.

“We’re here to see the stinky flower,” said Julie Worstell, visiting the conservatory. 

The flower was initially planted in 2010.

While it took 10 years for it to bloom the first time, it’s now expected to bloom every three to four years.

That’s expected to happen Tuesday night, and when it does, it’ll stay bloomed for 2-3 days.

“We’re starting to see all the right signs for it. The spade is starting to unfurl itself from the spadix which is that top center purple area and by seeing that and seeing some of the maroon color start to appear, we’re probably expecting it to start opening tonight,” Lorentzen said.

Along with the awful smell, the corpse flower gets very big. 

“Today we actually measured it at about 69 inches tall from the base of the soil to the top of the spadix,” Lorentzen said.

They said the flower will get anywhere from three to four feet wide and it can heat itself up. 

“That plant, when it’s blooming, heats itself up to 98 degrees. To help that odor that it gives off dissipate and spread to attract more pollinators, which are the carrying beetle and the fly. And most people find that extremely interesting that a plant could heat itself up to 98 degrees,” said Lorraine Gaughenbaugh, volunteer at the Franklin Park Conservatory.

The Franklin Park Conservatory is having extended hours on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to allow people to see the rare corpse flower bloom.