Vancouver’s corpse flower bloom fades, along with its rotting flesh smell

Vancouver’s rare corpse flower, dubbed Uncle Fester because of its overwhelming stench, is no longer raising a stink.

The Vancouver Park Board says the titan arum, a plant native to Sumatra and the largest flower on earth, has closed its funnel-shaped petal around its two-metre central spike as the brief bloom period draws to a close.

The park board says in a statement that part of the petal is still slightly open and the red interior of the flower is still visible but the smell has dissipated.

The flower only blooms a few times during its roughly 40-year life and while blooming it emits a powerful odour similar to rotting flesh in order to attract pollinators such as carrion beetles that feed on dead animals.

After blooming, the huge central spike will collapse, completing the pollination cycle, although a park board official says the collapse is not expected to happen soon.

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About 4,100 visitors crowded through the park board’s Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park on Monday, the first full day of the bloom, and the wait to see Uncle Fester was estimated at up to three hours on Tuesday.

The Canadian Press