Corpse Flower to Bloom at Nashville Zoo

NASHVILLE, TN – Inside the Nashville Zoo's Aviary located in the Unseen New World, Amorphophallus titanum, more commonly known as a corpse flower is about to bloom.

The corpse flower is considered to be one of the largest flowers in the world growing to more than 10 feet in height. The seasonal plant consists of a single leaf that grows to the size of a small tree. Each year the plant dies and regrows again from a giant corm (tuber). After several years of seasonal growth, the plant goes dormant, and soon after sprouts the flower. When the flower blooms, it emits an odor that is similar to rotting flesh, giving it its common name.

The bloom is a rarity taking place once every eight to 10 years and only lasting a couple of days. When it blooms, Nashville Zoo plans to open the aviary to allow guests to see and smell the flower until it wilts. Anyone interested in seeing the flower's growth can also watch on a web camera overlooking the flower.

After making the difficult decision to close their greenhouses, the corpse flower along with numerous other plants were donated to the Zoo by Vanderbilt University. Jonathan Ertelt, the greenhouse manager, started the plant from a seed in 2012 and watched it grow for eight years with no bloom. In December, colleagues from the Nashville Zoo went to Vanderbilt and brought the plant to the zoo where it went dormant in late winter. It started to break dormancy in late summer, coming into bloom in early October.