Rare corpse flower blooms at Wellesley’s Elm Bank Reservation
By Erica Noonan
Eliza, a rare Indonesian corpse flower, began her dramatic and very short bloom cycle Sunday night at The Garden at Elm Bank.
Local plant enthusiasts wasted no time in getting to Wellesley, and by the time gates opened for the first set of timed tickets at 8 p.m., nearly 100 people were in line, including some from as far away as Worcester.
Eliza-watch had been ongoing for days, with a livecam on the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s website, where she is visiting from her permanent residence at Wheaton College in Norton.
Her bloom is estimated to last just 24-32 hours, and the decision was made to move her to Elm Bank which had more capacity for public visitation during the summer months, said Amanda Bettle, Wheaton’s Greenhouse Manager.
Eliza had bloomed before, but only partially, about two years ago, Bettle said.
But Sunday night’s opening was the real deal, she said. Beetles and flies were already crawling on her partially opened leaves, which true to Titan Arum (Amorphophallus Titanum) form smelled like garbage and rotting meat.
Because its eager pollinators won’t easily find another corpse flower in Swellesley, Elm Bank managers got pollen from a handful of the other rare corpse blooms in the U.S. shipped in to try to help the bugs complete their mission.
Tickets to see Eliza at The Garden at Elm Bank, 900 Washington St. can be found here. Tickets are $14 for adults, $5 for children, MHS members may enter free of charge.
