Hold your breath: Corpse flower set to bloom at NY Botanical Garden

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Monday, April 3, 2023
Giant corpse flower set to bloom at NY Botanical Garden
The giant corpse flower is set to bloom at the New York Botanical Garden.

BRONX (WABC) -- The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is home to some of the most beautiful and exotic plants and flowers in the world.

But there's the one everyone is holding their breath to see.

It's the giant corpse flower that is set to bloom for the first time since 2019.

The flower's official name is Amorphophallus titanium.

The corpse flower gets its nickname from the foul odor that it emits when it blossoms.

It's said to smell like rotten meat.

It only blooms once every 30 years or so and can reach up to 12 feet in length.

The corpse flower sends out a putrid stench to attract pollinators that eat dead animals. It can also generate heat.

Luckily, the bloom only lasts 24 to 36 hours.

If you'd like to see the flower, but not smell it, the garden has a live stream of the flower:

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