Phew and far between: Como Conservatory's smelly corpse flower poised for rare bloom

The Como Conservatory is thrilled to share some news that really stinks: the imminent bloom of its corpse flower, a fascinating botanical event that fans cheer despite its off-putting aroma.

The flower is on the verge of blooming for the first time since its arrival in 2019, officials at the conservatory in St. Paul said Tuesday. They don't know exactly when it will happen, but expect it to be within the next week or so.

Como officials have dubbed the flower "Horace," named for the 19th century landscape architect Horace Cleveland. He designed Minneapolis' park and parkway system, and other green spaces around the Twin Cities.

Viewing of the flower at the conservatory's Exhibit Gallery runs daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Otherwise, if the aromatic punch in the nose is more than you wish to risk, a livestream feed is available where you can watch "as Horace unfurls its massive, unbranched inflorescence and emits its distinctive scent of rotting flesh, all from the comfort of your own screen," the conservatory's announcement read.

A native of the equatorial rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse flower is a member of the plant family Araceae.

The notoriously noxious flower uses its odor to cut through the many scents competing for the pollinating attention of the sweat bee. The bees can smell the plant from miles away. The flower warms itself to a temperature comparable to that of humans. As it warms, the odor becomes more powerful.

Upon its rare moment of bloom, the flower's leaf can stretch upward to 12 feet, according to the U.S. Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C.

The first incidence of a publicized bloom was at London's Kew Gardens in 1889 after the plant's discovery two years earlier.