Titan Arum redux

After eight days of waiting since my first, failed, visit, the Titan Arum ("Corpse Flower") at the United States Botanic Garden finally bloomed on Sunday afternoon, July 20th. This was great timing since the window for a good visit is limited and if it had bloomed on Saturday, the whole thing would have been over by the time I returned to work. I visited on Monday morning to see what all the stink was about. (See what I did there?)

Not too surprisingly, a coworker and I had to wait in line to see the plant, but the line moved quickly and after about a fifteen minute wait we were inside. As you can see, the plant has grown significantly taller over the past week. The bloom itself wasn't as open as I expected, but I didn't know exactly what to expect.

The biggest shock was the smell. Or, more specifically, the lack of smell. Nothing. Nada. The corpse flower didn't smell at all. It was a total bust. I had high hopes of gagging at the rotting meat stench, but there was nothing. Apparently, the plant smells most during the nighttime. Rats.

Still, I'm glad I saw it. It's not something that happens every day and it was quite fascinating. Maybe I'll catch it next time, in several years, when it flowers again.

Smell you later.