Titan Arum, aka the corpse flower, blooms seldom and unpredictably, storing up energy in its large bulb until it is ready to go. I saw (and smelled!) the last time the U.S. Botanic Garden had a blooming corpse flower in 2013, and was eager to see it again. It didn’t disappoint. Here it is a few hours after it opened:

There were large crowds to see it, with everyone taking photographs:

The botanic illustrator at the garden was documenting it throughout its progress:

I’d been going to the Botanical Garden for several days preceding the bloom date so I could watch the progress:

After a long wait, it finally bloomed on August 2nd. This was the first bloom for this plant, which is six years old. The Botanic Garden also had the plant’s mother on display nearby, which is genetically identical. It has not bloomed in its ten year life.