Corpse flower at Frederik Meijer Gardens expected to bloom, reeking of rotting flesh

A large, rare flower in the collection at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids is expected to soon bloom — and create a foul smell that will both disgust and delight visitors.

The botanical park’s Amorphophallus titanum or titan arum is more commonly known as the or “corpse flower” due to its unique blooming cycle. The plant can take up to a decade to produce a flower, which is only in bloom for up to 36 hours. To quickly attract pollinators, the plant evolved to give off a strong odor that resembles the smell of rotting flesh.

The peak bloom is expected to come this weekend, between Friday, June 14 and Sunday, June 16. It can be experienced during the garden’s normal hours of operation inside the Grace Jarecki Seasonal Display Greenhouse; tickets can be purchased at MeijerGardens.org/tickets .

The flower is also one of the largest in the world, reaching up to ten feet tall and four feet wide, with leaves up to 20 feet in height and 16 feet across. The plant is on loan from the Grand Valley State University biology department, whose staff has nicknamed it “The Beast.”

“This is an incredibly exciting and unique thing to experience,” said Steve LaWarre, senior vice president of horticulture at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. “Many people go through their entire careers never seeing an example like this in person.”

The park’s other Amorphophallus titanum specimen, lovingly dubbed “Putricia,” bloomed in 2018.

The plant, which can live for 40 years or more, is native to the rainforests of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where it is known as bunga bangkai .