SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — It's a stinky site at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas, where a second corpse flower is now in full bloom.
It's rare for the garden to have two blooms in the same year, considering these plants need seven to 10 years to produce their first blooms and bloom only every four to five years afterward.
In honor of this occasion, the garden is extending its operating hours. It's open until 10 p.m. Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.
The rare, smelly plant will only bloom for about 48 hours, so you'll have to be quick to catch a glimpse and whiff.
Ari Novy, the president and CEO of the botanic garden, says they're extremely fortunate to house this rare plant.
"This particular plant is a sibling to the plant that just bloomed here in late June. The response to that recent bloom was incredible, and we cannot wait to share this experience with the community once again," Novy says. "If you didn't have a chance to come check out the last bloom, this is your opportunity."
The garden named this bloom "Morticia," and it's the sibling plant of the garden's other corpse flower, which bloomed on June 28. Botanists say they appear to be on the same cycle since they previously bloomed within 30 days of each other in both 2018 and 2021.
The corpse flower gets its name from its foul stench, similar to a rotting body or carcass. After the smell is gone, the flower will remain open for three to four days before it starts to close and slowly decay, according to the botanic garden.
The plant is native to Sumatra's rainforests, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as endangered. The organization estimates that fewer than 1,000 of the plants are left in the wild.
"SDBG will collect and store pollen from this bloom, with hopes of sharing out to other botanic gardens to broaden the gene pool and help conserve this magnificent plant," the garden's press release says.
If you're unable to see the plant in person, you can still view it via the garden's 24-hour livestream on its website.
