Foul-Smelling Corpse Flower To Bloom In D.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A giant rainforest plant known as a corpse flower for its terrible smell is set to bloom at the U.S. Botanic Garden next to the Capitol.
Garden officials say the titan arum flower could bloom late Sunday or Monday. The garden extended its hours both days from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to give visitors the chance to see the flower in full bloom -- and to smell its scent of rotting flesh. But the flower was not yet open on Sunday afternoon.
Scientists say the flower's strange odor serves to attract beetles for pollination.
This plant is about 10 years old, and this is its first flower. The bloom will only last 24 to 48 hours. The last corpse flower to bloom at the Botanic Garden was in 2007.
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