Rare Smelly Corpse Flower Set To Open

Vancouver, Wash. – A very big, very rare, and very stinky flower housed at Washington State University Vancouver is getting ready to open for the first time at the end of July or the beginning of August.

The Titan Arum nicknamed Titan VanCoug has been cultivated by Associate Professor of Molecular Biosciences Steve Sylvester for the past 17 years. He planted a seed from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s titan arum plant, affectionately named Big Bucky, in 2002.

The plant is well known for it’s large size, slow growth, and aroma of rotting flesh.

Sylvester cultivated Titan VanCoug in a pot on his desk until it grew too large to contain in such a small space. It has grown in a stairwell in WSU Vancouver’s Science and Engineering Building for some time.

You can see the flower for your self, visiting hours are 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The big blossom has it’s own web stream where you can watch it continue to grow and eventually bloom.