it's the perfect combination of a pretty flower, and the stench of death when the corpse flower blooms, and now you can see one bloom in person!

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Why Is A Corpse Flower Special?

Inside the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens sits a corpse flower named Morticia.  What makes this flower super special is the fact that they stay dormant for anywhere from seven to ten years so seeing one in bloom is actually a pretty rare event.  This year Morticia is showing signs of coming out of dormancy which means the flower will bloom soon.  The bloom is short-lived as it only stays open for about 24-36 hours, but people travel from all over just to catch a glimpse of the rare bloom, and to get a whiff of the signature corpse flower smell.

What's That Smell?

So what does a corpse flower smell like?  Well, it doesn't get the name "corpse flower" for nothing, it's said the smell the flower emits smells something like rotting, decaying meat.  Delicious, right?

Want to See Morticia For Yourself?

You can catch a glimpse of the elusive corpse flower at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanic Garden, and who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and go on a day Morticia blooms!

Here's what the Cincinnati Zoo has to say about Morticia:

We are so excited that Morticia, our corpse flower is getting ready to bloom! The corpse flower is one of the world's largest and rarest flowering structures. It takes seven to ten years for a single corpse flower to gather enough energy to begin its bloom cycle. The plant generally blooms for only 24 to 36 hours. The smell it emits when in bloom is why it’s called the corpse flower. The odor has been described as a combination of Limburger cheese, garlic, rotting fish, and smelly feet. The plant is trying hard to attract its native Sumatran pollinators: carrion beetles and flesh flies that are attracted to the stench of decaying meat. Come check out Morticia in the Discovery Forest on your next visit!

Check out a time-lapse of a corpse flower blooming in Chicago: