WATCH ABOVE: Putrella is nauseating, rancid and it’s attracting thousands of people to the Muttart Conservatory. Fletcher Kent was one.
EDMONTON — If you missed it the first time, you’re in luck: Putrella, the infamous stinky flower at the Muttart Conservatory, is in bloom again.
“The corpse flower has bloomed! The Muttart Conservatory will open at 8 a.m.,” the City of Edmonton tweeted on Tuesday morning, also posting on Facebook that the Muttart will be open for 24 hours in order to allow as many people as possible to see — and smell — the putrid bloom.
The Amorphophallus titanum, found in the wild in Sumatra, Indonesia, is both beautiful and nasty. Its large purple flower emits an odour like rotting meat. Commonly known as the “corpse flower,” staff at the conservatory nicknamed the plant “Putrella.”
It became the first corpse flower to bloom in western Canada in April of 2013. The event generated much hype and excitement, and a record 8,800 people visited over the course of the week. The Muttart extended its hours then as well, to allow as many people as possible to experience the bloom – an event that only lasts about a day.
READ MORE: Edmonton’s Muttart Conservatory goes quirky to attract visitors
It can sometimes take years for the plant to develop a flower and the bud grows several metres tall before opening, so staff didn’t expect Putrella to bloom again for several more years.
Information provided Monday afternoon on the Muttart’s Facebook page suggests this bloom likely will not beat the Guinness World Record, currently at 10 feet and 2.25 inches. At the time, the flower was about 82 inches (6 feet, 8 inches tall) and her growth was slowing after a month of growing several inches a day.
Below is a gallery of the flower’s progress.
With files from The Canadian Press
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on March 24, and updated on April 7 when Putrella went into bloom.
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