7 things to know about the blooming corpse flower
BRONX, New York (WABC) -- A rare and stinky flower is finally in bloom at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, but it's known more for its stench than its beauty.
The so-called corpse flower is spreading its pungent joy throughout the borough for the first time in nearly 80 years.
If you want to see it but not smell it, here is a live stream from the Botanical Garden:
Here are seven things to know:
1. The corpse flower, known as Amorphophallus titanium, is one of the largest in the world and blooms only for 24 to 36 hours.
2. Native to Indonesia, it first bloomed in the Western Hemisphere at the New York Botanical Garden in 1937.
3. It's strong, distinctive odor -- which resembles rotting meat -- attracts pollinators that feed on dead animals.
4. The corpse flower can grow as high as 12 feet tall in its natural habitat, and about six to eight feet in cultivation.
5. A young corpse flower takes about seven to 10 years to even begin its bloom cycle, with a full bloom around once every 30 years.
6. The corpse flower was the official flower of the Bronx from 1939 until 2000, when it was replaced with the day lily.
7. Here is a time lapse of a corpse flower blooming earlier this year in Houston:
Eyewitness News reporter Michelle Charlesworth chatted with the NYBG's Marc Hachadourian, who has more interesting tidbits, on Facebook Live.
