Every two or three years, the large corpse flower blooms for just two or three days.

It’s stinky at first, with a smell like rotting flesh when it first blooms. But the smell fades within hours, leaving the stunning sight of a bloom up to 8 feet tall, the largest unbranched inflorescence of all plants.

And, if you make it to Washington, D.C., quickly, you have a chance to see one in bloom — without most of the stink.

A corpse flower with a bloom nearly 7 feet tall opened up late last night, the U.S. Botanic Garden said in a post on social media. The institution is extending its hours on July 22 until 8 p.m. to give people more time to see the bloom.

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A second corpse flower is “also about ready to bloom,” according to the botanic garden, though they didn’t yet give a date for when when that’s expected.

It’s good timing for Baltimoreans, too. Just a few months ago, the Rawlings Conservatory announced its corpse flower was in bloom. So if you missed the chance to see that one, a bloom (or two) is just an hour away.

The U.S. Botanic Garden is just to the southwest of the U.S. Capitol Building, which makes it easily accessible by public transit. You can take a MARC train from Penn Station or the West Baltimore Station to Union Station in Washington, for example, and then have a less than one mile walk to the garden.

The Amorphophallus titanum, or better known as the “Corpse Flower”, bloomed in the early morning hours of July 22, 2024 at the US Botanical Gardens. The garden is home to two of the flowers, with one still waiting to bloom. The corpse flower is known for its pungent smell and blooms for just 2-3 days once every two to three years and can grow up to 8 feet tall. Today people lined up to selfie, FaceTime loved ones and inspect the interesting flower. (Kaitlin Newman / The Baltimore Banner)
The Amorphophallus titanum, or better known as the “Corpse Flower”, bloomed in the early morning hours of July 22, 2024 at the US Botanical Gardens. The garden is home to two of the flowers, with one still waiting to bloom. The corpse flower is known for its pungent smell and blooms for just 2-3 days once every two to three years and can grow up to 8 feet tall. Today people lined up to selfie, FaceTime loved ones and inspect the interesting flower. (Kaitlin Newman / The Baltimore Banner)
The Amorphophallus titanum, or better known as the “Corpse Flower”, bloomed in the early morning hours of July 22, 2024 at the US Botanical Gardens. The garden is home to two of the flowers, with one still waiting to bloom. The corpse flower is known for its pungent smell and blooms for just 2-3 days once every two to three years and can grow up to 8 feet tall. Today people lined up to selfie, FaceTime loved ones and inspect the interesting flower. (Kaitlin Newman / The Baltimore Banner)
The Amorphophallus titanum, or better known as the “Corpse Flower”, bloomed in the early morning hours of July 22, 2024 at the US Botanical Gardens.

Entry to the botanic garden is free. For more information, you can visit the U.S. Botanic Garden’s website.

The blooming corpse flower was sown in 2018, making the plant about 6 years old, the institution said. The second corpse flower that has not yet opened bloomed once before in 2016.