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BRUCE ASATO / SEPT. 2013
This corpse plant bloomed in 2013 at the Foster Botanical Garden.
The Foster Botanical Garden is holding off on extending their hours for those who want to see, and smell, the “Corpse plants” bloom.
The plant, amorphophallus titanum, is an endangered species native to Sumatra, Indonesia and blooms only once every two to five years.
When it blooms, it emits a pungent odor of rotting flesh, which serves to attract the carrion bettles that pollinate the flower, the city said.
City officials said on Saturday that it appeared the plant could bloom as early as Monday.
But today, the city issued another news release saying reports of the plant’s bloom are premature and it does not look like the the plant will bloom and smell before Tuesday.
The city will issue another news release when the plant is ready to smell.
Foster Botanical Garden, located at 50 N. Vineyard, is regularly open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but will stay open until 6 p.m. on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to allow for extra viewing time.
Admission to the garden is $5 for adults, $3 for kamaaina, $1 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for children under 5.
For more information, call 522-7066.
NECROPHELIA (?)
Pungent odor of rotting flesh and pay a $5 fee ?
I’d rather go to ‘Body worlds’ and not have to experience the smells.
For $1.00 I can fart in your face.
Has anyone seen it and is it even worth checking out?
Never seen it but we should also find out how long it blooms.
Oh yes it is real … memorable!! Nature attracts lots of different pollinators with smells. Bees like the smell of nectar. Poop flies like the smell of feces. This is the kind of a plant that a dog would defiantly want to get his nose near.
I’ll be there! It only happens every so often. And Foster Botanical Garden could use the money!
It is kind of a once in a lifetime experience. The UH campus had a corpse plant near the old Sinclair Library and it did really capture your attention when it bloomed.
It is probably not there anymore.