The world’s smelliest flower blooms again in Warsaw, filling the air with its infamous scent

The University of Warsaw’s botanical garden is hosting a rare natural event as the giant corpse flower has just unfurled its enormous leaf-like bract.

In the botanical garden of the University of Warsaw, the giant corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum), commonly known as the world’s smelliest flower, has just bloomed.

Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

This marks only the plant’s second flowering in Poland. The first bloom occurred four years ago in 2021 and lasted just four to six hours. This time, Polish botanists note, the plant is older, stronger, and significantly larger.

Native to the equatorial rainforests of Sumatra, the giant corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) can reach heights of up to 10 feet (3 meters) and widths of around 5 feet (1.5 meters).

It emits a pungent odor resembling rotting flesh to attract pollinating insects, earning its reputation as the world’s most malodorous flower.

This extraordinary botanical spectacle can be viewed live on YouTube, while visitors in Warsaw have the opportunity to see the bloom in person at the city’s botanical garden greenhouses, which are open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to announcements from the garden’s staff on social media.

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Opublikowany przez Ogród Botaniczny Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego Poniedziałek, 4 sierpnia 2025

Amorphophallus titanum. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

(mp)

Source: IAR/Facebook.com/OgrodBotanicznyUW/YouTube.com/@ogrod-botaniczny-uw