How to see (and smell) the corpse flower in Charlotte

The infamous “corpse flower” has been in bloom this week at two Charlotte-area botanical gardens. Here’s how – and why – to get a whiff.

▪ The flower’s proper name is Amorphophallus titanum, or Titan Arum for short.

▪ These plants only blooms once every seven to 10 years.

▪ The bloom only lasts for a few days. Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden extended its hours Tuesday to help people catch a glimpse. Unfortunately, their plant has now closed.

▪ UNC Charlotte’s Botanical Gardens expects its Titan Arum to bloom Thursday and Friday.

▪ The “corpse flower” moniker comes because the bloom smells like decomposing flesh. People also describe the smell as “rotting garbage.”

▪ Check out the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens page on Facebook for the latest updates.

▪ The plants have quite the following on social media, with fans taking “stinky selfies” of themselves. Here’s a sampling of posts from the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.

This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 8:17 AM with the headline "How to see (and smell) the corpse flower in Charlotte."