Colorado State University’s corpse flower is expected to bloom and reach the peak of repulsive glory sometime early on Sunday morning, CSU officials say.
Members of the public are invited to stop by Fort Collins and get a whiff of the famously odiferous floral species.
The flower, named Cosmo, went through noticeable changes on Saturday afternoon, university spokeswoman Tiana Kennedy said in an email. The 8-year-old, Indonesian giant is now expected to bloom for the first time in its life in the early morning hours releasing an aroma that is often compared to a dead body.
As promised, the university will open its campus conservatory from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Sunday and continuing on the schedule daily until Cosmo returns to dormancy. Kennedy projects that Sunday and Monday will be the only days to see and smell the short-lived bloom.
Cosmo is on display in CSU’s campus conservatory at 1241 Libbie Coy Way in Fort Collins. Admission is free.
For the less olfactorily adventurous, the university is also providing a live stream of Cosmo’s big moment on its Youtube channel. Visit youtube.com/@ColoradoStateUniversity/streams and click the corpse flower feed to watch the changes from a safe distance.
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Corpse flowers, a tropical species officially known as Amorphophallus titanium, put off their pungent aroma to draw pollinators including flies and carrion beetles. They can grow up to 8 feet tall. But blooms are short-lived and rare. Cosmo may not stink up the CSU campus again for another three to five years, according to university officials.
The Denver Botanic Gardens has two corpse flowers — Stinker and its smaller sibling Lil Stinker. Lil Stinker last bloomed in 2022 drawing long lines to the tropical conservatory.