Terra the titan arum has been the talk of the town this week. She is currently on view at the Conservatory of Flowers where she began to bloom earlier today. I had the chance to check out this rare sight and smell after work. This is what I learned from my visit:
Terra was donated by a San Francisco resident who raised her for four years until she became too big for her owner’s bathroom.
The titan arum is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world and native to Indonesia. A bloom occurs every 7-10 years and the flower emits a strong and foul odor that is often compared to rotting animal flesh in order to attract pollinators. Its putrid smell also gives the titan arum another name – corpse flower. I wonder how the smell compares to durian.
The bloom and smell is said to last for 48 hours and that Terra will be her stinkiest this evening. If you’re local, the conservatory’s hours have been extended for the next few days. There’s also a nice butterfly exhibit next door if the stench gets to be too much.
Plant reporter for scale
I would like to visit and view the Titan arum corpse flower at San Francisco conservatory this Sunday 6/25/17 but don’t know if is it too late?thank you
Hi Christy, unfortunately the bloom is over. You can still check out other great plants and the butterfly exhibition at the Conservatory.
Hi Megan, thank you for your responsed, how do I get notify next time if there is a exhibit corpse flower blooming again at conservatory of flower ? thank you so much
That corpse flower takes about 7-10 years to bloom so it probably won’t be for a while unless the Conservatory gets another plant that is about to bloom. You can get updates through the Conservatory’s social media links or email list to learn about upcoming exhibits.