The Missouri Botanical Garden has issued a “Bloom Alert” for the strangely fascinating “corpse flower” infamous for its intense, foul odor.
Also commonly known as a titan arum, the Amorphophallus titanum plant, named “Luna,” is expected to bloom in the next 14 days.
Luna came to the Garden as a seedling six years ago and now weighs 31.5 pounds. A titan arum seed can take up to five to 10 years to grow before it gets its first bloom. Once it blooms a tall spike of small flowers, the strong odor it emits usually lasts for only 24 hours.
The titan arum, native to Indonesia, is a fast-growing member of the Aroid family. And while a growing number is cultivated around the world, the plant is listed as endangered in the wild by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Species.
Luna can be found in the Climatron, where it will be on view for visitors to the Garden. This is at least the 12th corpse flower bloom the Garden has hosted in 10 years.
Viewing is included with the price of Garden admission, with discounted rates for St. Louis city and county residents; members are admitted for free.
The flower usually opens quickly in the late afternoon, with peak bloom occurring after dark. The Garden plans to stay open late on the evening of the bloom. Updates will be provided via the Missouri Botanical Garden’s social media pages. More information is available by visiting mobot.org/corpseflower.
