Denver Botanic Gardens welcomed its first ever Amorphophallus titanum or corpse flower bloom on August 19, 2015. The plant has been a part of the tropical plant collection since 2007 when it was donated to us by a former Colorado State University student who had great interest and acumen in growing Amorphophallus species. He started the plant from seed in 2002.

This particular plant grows from a corm. When repotted in mid May 2015 it weighed approximately 20-25 pounds. The horticulture staff started to notice the emerging bud in mid July and began to document the growth rate and appearance. We were able to confirm that it was indeed a flower bud and not a leaf bud in late July. The daily growth rate at times exceeded 2 inches per day. At bloom, the flower's spadix was over 5 feet 3 inches in height.

In addition to daily photographs, the plant is also being monitored by a timelapse camera and webcam streaming through YouTube.

You can view more timeline images of this plant's journey towards blooming here.

Learn more about the corpse flower and its close relatives here.