Published May 14, 2013
Associated Press
FILE - In this April 24, 2011 file photo, Nancy Clapper, of Columbus, takes a picture of the rare corpse flower as research assistant George Keeney, with the blue t-shirt, helps lead a group, at the Ohio State University Biological Sciences greenhouse in Columbus, Ohio. Researchers at an Ohio State University greenhouse are awaiting a rare second bloom by a rainforest plant known as a corpse flower because of its unpleasant odor. The university says the nearly 6-foot titan arum is expected to open this week, releasing another round of its rotting-flesh smell a little more than two years after it first flowered. (AP Photo/The Columbus Dispatch, Neal C. Lauron, File)The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A large rainforest plant known as a corpse flower because of its awful smell is blooming again at an Ohio State University greenhouse, and there's more excitement because another corpse flower there is expected to open soon.
A 6-foot titan arum opened Tuesday to release its rotting-flesh smell two years after it first flowered. A second corpse flower opened briefly at the greenhouse last May, and a third is expected to open in seven to 10 days.
Despite extended visiting hours, visitors have little time to catch a whiff because the rare blooms sometimes last only a day or less.
Spokeswoman Sandi Rutkowski says having three or four blooms within three years is lucky but also is a tribute to the skill of cultivators at the greenhouse.
