Throngs of people flocked to the Norfolk Botanical Garden Sunday, some spending hours in line in the hopes of getting a glimpse – and sniff — of its latest attraction.
One by one, visitors shuffled through the visitor center and walked outside, down a Disneyland-style red carpet to take photos with the star of the show: A corpse flower dubbed “Lady MacDeath."
Corpse flowers, which are endangered and rare in the wild, get their name from the intense stench that accompanies their bloom, akin to hot garbage. It’s an evolutionary tactic, mimicking the smell of decaying flesh to attract pollinators such as beetles.
Visitors over the weekend held up signs reading “I Survived the Stench,” though many were surprised the scent wasn’t stronger. The outdoor air often dispersed the odor – but when winds shifted in your direction, the name made sense.
“If you were to climb inside a big metal dumpster in the middle of summer, that is exactly what it smells like,” said Michelle Baudanza, director of the garden’s new Perry Conservatory, which is set to open this fall.
The flower was raised in a greenhouse at the conservatory, but moved outside for the public display, surrounded by some other tropical plants.
Corpse flowers are unpredictable bloomers. It can take up to a decade between buds as the massive plant musters enough energy.
Before it blooms, it “kind of looks like a giant cabbage,” Baudanza said. In mid-June, it started showing signs of blooming, as a green shoot emerged and grew rapidly.
The Botanical Garden documented its growth each day. The plant started at 21 inches and eventually rose to 84 inches, shooting up by as much as 6 inches per day.
Last week, officials went on “bloom watch,” and on Saturday night, Lady MacDeath came through, revealing a tall yellow spike surrounded by dark maroon petals.
“The sheer size of this alone is really incredible,” Baudanza said. “I think it's absolutely beautiful. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen.”
The flower’s peak bloom was shrouded in darkness. Overnight, officials protected it from curious creatures with a wooden cage, which blocked the live camera’s view, Baudanza said.
“That sort of adds to the mystique of this plant.”
By late Sunday morning, the flower was starting to wilt. They only last for a couple of days.
Corpse flowers are native to the rainforests of Sumatra in Indonesia. Much of their habitat has been razed to make way for lucrative palm oil plantations.
Because of widespread deforestation, fewer than 1,000 corpse flowers remain in the wild.
The Norfolk facility received its flower last summer from the U.S. Botanical Garden. Staff had no idea when it would bloom.
The public voted to name the Norfolk specimen. Options included “Nose-feratu,” and “Stinkerbelle,” but Lady MacDeath won out.
Baudanza said the bloom is an exciting display. But she hopes it also draws attention to the threats corpse flowers face.
“As incredible as she is, at the end of the day, the reason why she is endangered and rare is because of deforestation,” she said. “I think it is a moment to reflect on that, and to think about daily choices that we're making.”
For example, she encourages people to try to reduce consumption of palm oil, which is used in a range of products from shampoo to frozen vegetables.
Soon, Lady MacDeath will fully wilt and collapse into a dormant stage, starting to store up energy “until she decides to bloom again.”
