The Press Enterprise - This rare, beautiful flower is gigantic, other-worldly — and stinky.
The amorphophallus titanum, known as a corpse flower plant, is on display in the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens and getting ready to bloom, a UCR news release announced.
Affectionately called “Little Miss Stinky” by the gardens staff, the tropical flower blooms only once every seven to nine years and sometimes waits as long as a decade. It only stays in full bloom for a short time — 24 to 40 hours, officials said.
The UCR Botanic Gardens is open Sundays through Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., but the gardens staff will extend corpse-flower viewing hours until 4 p.m. The garden is typically closed Saturdays, but may remain open if the plant is in bloom. The plant will be under close supervision and staff members will be inside the greenhouse to answer questions.
Admission is a suggested donation of $5, which will support the gardens and a conservatory housing rare plants. Visitors should park in metered parking in UCR’s BG Lot, Lot 10 and Lot 13 Blue.
The gardens are on the UCR campus, at 1 Botanic Gardens Drive.
Information: gardens.ucr.edu, instagram.com/ucrbotanicgardens