Originally written by The Spheres staff on November 9, 2018
Updated June 30, 2023
In late October 2018, Morticia, a corpse flower, bloomed in The Spheres. Thousands of plant enthusiasts watched Morticia in person and through a Twitch livestream.
In 2019, we were delighted to welcome Bellatrix, a second corpse flower, to The Spheres. During her bloom, Bellatrix topped out at over six feet tall. Both plants, Morticia and Bellatrix, were generously donated by the University of Washington Botany Greenhouse back in 2014.
In June 2023, Morticia 2.0, a corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) in the Amazon Plant Collection, showed the first sign of flowering. Expected to bloom within the next two weeks, the Amazon Horticulture Team is delighted to witness another bloom, which only occurs every 5-7 years.
The Corpse flower has the largest unbranched flowering structure in the world and can grow over nine feet tall. The plant takes a minimum of seven years to produce its first bloom. A bloom lasts only about 48 hours. When in bloom, the flower gives off a putrid odor of rotting flesh. It is pollinated by flies and carrion beetles. To help the smell travel further, the flower heats up to 98 degrees. When not in flower, the Corpse flower produces a single leaf that can reach 15 feet tall and equally wide which resembles a small tree.
Check out the gallery for photos of Morticia and Bellatrix during their visit to The Spheres.
