She does sleep, but she is a unique beauty, and the San Diego Botanic Garden wants her to be seen.
They call her Stinking Beauty though, not sleeping beauty, and it’s for a good reason.
Yep, she – a rare corpse flower – smells, and memorably bad at that, hence the nickname.
Officials at the Encinitas garden though are thrilled, as they are seeing their second Amorphophallus titanum, a Sumatran endangered plant, bloom in a month.
Their other corpse flower, dubbed Jack Smellington, a play on a character name from The Nightmare Before Christmas, bloomed just in time for Halloween.
The second chance with Stinking Beauty is a big deal, as a corpse flower in bloom is a rare scent, er, sight, indeed. Most plants require seven to 10 years to produce their first blooms, then offer one up roughly every four to five years afterwards.
The plants last bloomed in 2018.
“This is a rare second opportunity to see this elusive plant in bloom,” said garden president and CEO Ari Novy.
The garden – general admission costs $18 – is booking slots online for extended hours through Saturday for the curious to take a whiff:
- Thursday – Open until midnight.
- Friday – 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Saturday – 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.