CORPSE FLOWER DRAWS VISITORS TO SNIFF IT OUT
Rare 4-foot-tall plant takes years to produce rotting stench to attract pollinators
Gabriella DiGiovanni came to Walter Anderson’s Nursery on Thursday to see if the corpse flower was living up to its name. She wasn’t disappointed.
“It does smell pretty bad,” said DiGiovanni, one of hundreds of people who came to the Poway nursery to see — and sniff — the 4foot-tall plant, in bloom for the first time.
“It smells like the fly traps that we put in our yard in Ramona,” she said.
Most people say the bloom of the plant, with the formal name of Amorphophallus titanum, smells like rotting flesh or meat.
Hudson Elliott, a botanist who works at the Armstrong Nursery in Del Mar, said the smell indicates the plant’s amazing ability to attract pollinators.
“One person on Facebook described it as a chicken carcass left in the trash can too long,” Elliott said.
He compared it to the stinky Dracunculus plant, which he said has a “wonderful scent.”
The maroon corpse flower is a rare sight — it only lasts one to three days, said David Ross, senior manager at Walter Andersen’s Nursery. Once the large petals open, the bloom looks like a vibrant velvet cup around a large stalk.
The plant is native to Sumatra, said Ross, who opened the nursery early, at 7 a.m. Thursday, to visitors eager to see the flower and get a whiff.
“The looks on peoples’ faces, both the smiles and the pinched noses, is priceless,” he said.
Ross said he has relished watching visitors coming in to have their picture taken with the flower and all the media attention — with the coverage reaching a nationwide audience, he said.
“It makes me very happy,” he said. “It’s a very fulfilling thing to watch the enjoyment that this seemingly innocuous plant has prompted. What it has brought to the community is really special. I knew it was exciting, but I had no idea how much interest this would generate.”
Corpse flowers are usually found only in botanic gardens such as the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas, Ross said. The Poway nursery purchased the plant in December 2018 for $300, Ross said.
The bulb was only 8 inches across in June 2021, but two years later the bulb grew to 15 inches across, he said. Last year, the plant
produced a single leaf that was about 12 to 15 feet tall. In fall 2022, the plant went dormant and it was moved upstairs, where it was warmer, until June this year. Then it was transplanted to a larger 24-inch pot and brought down to the main floor for display.
Escondido resident Natalie McCoy made a special trip to the nursery to take a gander and a sniff.
“It smells like rot,” McCoy said. “It’s not as strong as I thought it would be, but it’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It’s very cool.”
A sign posted in front of the plant said it requires seven to 10 years of vegetative growth before blooming for the first time. It may rebloom in two to three years or longer, the sign says.
“(The plant) releases powerful odors to attract pollinators, insects which feed on dead animals or lay their eggs in rotting meat,” the sign states.
Customers were also crowding into the nursery on Wednesday, when the flower was just beginning to bloom.
Kathy Leach of Carmel Mountain Ranch visited the nursery twice. Leach said she saw the flower livestreamed on Facebook and didn’t want to miss the chance to see it in person.
“I was watching it online, and when I saw it opening up a bit more, I hopped in the car to come back over,” Leach said. “Why sit at home when you can see it in person? The staff here are just as excited to see it.”
Ross kept the nursery open an extra three hours until 8 p.m. for customers like Leach.
Poway resident Sarah Kirchhofer, who saw the flower Wednesday for the first time, was amazed.
“I find it fascinating that they got it to grow outside the rainforest, in Poway,” she said.