Rollins College says its second corpse plant is about to bloom, and plant fans can attend a special viewing tonight around midnight.

The Hauck Research Center greenhouse will open from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. The college says this will be when that special "rotting flesh" smell will be at its prime.

The greenhouse will also have extended hours for people who want to catch the plant blooming in real time throughout the weekend:

  • Friday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Saturday: 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
  • Sunday: 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The blooming of a corpse plant is a once-in-a-decade event. The bloom only lasts about 36 hours.

The rare plant can reach up to 20 feet high in the wild, and gets its name from the stench the flower puts out during blooming. The stench attracts flies for pollination.

This particular plant is 12 years old and has not bloomed in all that time. One bloomed at the college a year ago, creating a big buzz and bringing hundreds of visitors to the campus.

Of course, if the smell of death is not your thing, you can try to catch the bloom on Rollins College's web cam. The live camera shows the plant all day.


To give you an idea of what a corpse plant bloom looks like, this is a different corpse plant which bloomed at Rollins College in 2015.