ST. LOUIS — A special floral event is now blooming at Missouri's Botanical Garden in St. Louis, according to garden horticulturists.
One of the garden's rare Amorphophallus titanium plants, affectionately known as "corpse flowers," is now blooming, according to MOBOT. The bloom will release the iconic, foul-smelling odor that gave the plant its tongue-in-cheek name.
Visitors can now view the corpse flower until 5 p.m. Monday. The Garden will also be open for free viewings from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The Linnean House will only be open during these hours.
The bloom comes nearly a year after another of the garden's corpse flowers, named Octavia, bloomed and attracted numerous curious whiff-wafting tourists.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: We have liftoff! Octavia the corpse flower now blooming at the Missouri Botanical Garden
This year's close-to-bloom corpse flower, named Millie, was gifted to Missouri's Botanical Garden by the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. This will be her first bloom at the garden.
Watch Millie as she nears bloom on MOBOT's livestream here:
Garden Horticulturist Emily Colletti has attended to the garden's corpse flowers for 22 years and has been present for each of the garden's 14 blooms since 2012.
“Each corpse flower is like one of my plant children. Each bloom is unique but the same in comparison,” Colletti said in a statement. “I cannot wait to see what Millie has to teach me about this wonderous giant of the plant kingdom.”
Millie is currently inside the Linnean House in the garden. Curious viewers can see Millie with the price of admission to the garden. Adults cost $16 and children ages 12 and under are free. Members of the Missouri Botanical Garden can also enter free of charge.
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