It's a stinky situation at the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory this week as a giant corpse flower has begun its long-awaited bloom.
The rare plant— also known as a titan arum— is regarded for its impressive size and rotting-flesh-like stench.
Gage Willey, the curator at the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory, told KSBY on Thursday that the window to experience the strong smell only lasts one to two days.
“It started blooming around 2 p.m. yesterday, and then that tells us, 'Okay, we got about 24 hours for everybody to come see it and experience it before it starts being a little less showy,'" Willey said.
The flower can reach a height of up to 12 feet in its natural habitat, according to the United States Botanic Garden. Experts say its putrid smell has adapted to lure corpse-attracted pollinators from long distances.
Visitor Deema Herrera told KSBY that she wanted to see the corpse flower at Cal Poly because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“At first, no one wanted to come because of the smell of the flower. But I said, 'We have to, because [we'll] never see this again probably.' And honestly, yes, the flower does smell, but it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be," Herrera said. "It is a really huge flower. [I was] not expecting that size, for sure."
Mallary Whacker, a San Luis Obispo resident and a faculty member at Cal Poly, said the corpse flower was a unique sight made even more special because of her ties to the university.
"It's just really cool to see rare things. So, whether it's a plant or an animal, anytime you get to go out and experience living things in nature, it's just a great opportunity. And it was so close. We work right over there, and so, why not come over and check it out?” Whacker said.
For curator Willey, the opportunity to grow a titan arum at Cal Poly was a great way to bring more attention to the program.
"It's a really good excuse to get the public out and to see it and kind of get excited about plants and botany in general, and that's our main goal, I think, with this plant," Willey said.
