SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The infamous Corpse Flower known as Horace has fully bloomed at the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, drawing visitors eager to experience one of the world’s rarest—and smelliest—plants.
Horace, which first bloomed in 2024 after arriving at Como in 2019, opened Sunday and is expected to remain in bloom for only a few days. Native to Indonesia, the Corpse Flower is known for emitting a powerful odor resembling rotting flesh.
“It’s a terrible smell, honestly, been compared to hot, stinky garbage,” said horticulturalist Jennifer Love. “The plant has a strategy of trying to attract pollinators that would also be attracted to a dead animal.”
Love said the scent is strongest overnight and is helped by the plant’s ability to generate heat while blooming. “They generate their own heat when they bloom, and that actually helps the scent to spread even further,” she said.
The Corpse Flower is also one of the rarest plants in the world, with fewer than 1,000 believed to remain in the wild. Love said habitat loss in Sumatra, Indonesia, has contributed to its decline.
“It is threatened by habitat loss,” Love said. “There’s been a lot of habitat destruction in Sumatra due to the increase in palm oil plantations.”
Corpse Flowers can reach heights of up to 15 feet, making the rare bloom a unique attraction for visitors to the conservatory.
