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DC's 'corpse flower' blooms for the first time in years

By Kennedy Morgan
Published  August 5, 2025 4:26pm EDT
Washington, D.C.
FOX 5 DC

The Brief

    • The Corpse Flower only blooms every five to ten years, for about 48 hours each cycle.
    • The Botanical Gardens is posting daily updates regarding the plant, including when it is expected to bloom.
    • The plant gets its name from its smell, which is similar to rotting flesh.

WASHINGTON - The titan arum, also known as the "corpse flower", is about to bloom at the Botanical Gardens. The flower has a bloom period of only 24–48 hours every five to ten years, usually prompting hundreds of people to wait in line before it goes back into hiding.

"A corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) permanently planted in our Tropics house has a bloom growing. It measured 80 inches tall today, and we believe it is possible the bloom will open around August 4-6, 2025," the Botanical Gardens said in an Instagram post.

The corpse flower is an endangered species originally from Sumatra, Indonesia. It omits a smell similar to rotting flesh: hence its nickname. The flower has not bloomed in DC since 2021, and before that, in 2017. There are said to be fewer than 1,000 of these flowers left on earth.

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