Rohan Prabhu
A crowd comes to witness the blooming of the corpse flower, which began on Sept. 22. The flower, standing over six feet tall, was said to smell like the odor of rotting flesh. The flower will begin to wilt after only 24 hours.
A rare species of flower began to bloom Thursday afternoon in the Mary Anne Fox Science Teaching Laboratory Greenhouse. The 13-year-old plant, last measured to be 6 feet and 4 inches tall, is blooming for the first time.
The species is commonly known as the corpse flower because it releases a chemical mixture similar to that of rotting flesh, giving off an iconic scent. The plant’s owner named it Lupin, which is Latin for “wolf.”
Since the year 1900, there have been fewer than 200 recorded bloomings of corpse flowers in cultivation, according to Diane Mays, a conservatory curator and teaching technician in horticulture science.
The greenhouse, located off of Dan Allen Drive, will be open on Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and there are plans for extended weekend hours, according to Mays.
Brandon Huber, a graduate student studying horticulture science, gained ownership of the plant when he was 18 years old. Huber, now 27, is ecstatic to see his years of care coming to fruition.
“When he realized it was going to be a flower, he nearly hit the ceiling,” Mays said. “It’s really cute to see him because it’s like his child.”
More detailed coverage of this story will be published in the coming days.