NORFOLK, Va. — Following hundreds of visitors and sold-out tickets, Norfolk’s rare bloom will soon die and be dissected.
Norfolk Botanical Garden’s corpse flower brought in hundreds of people, waiting for as long as two hours to meet Lady Macdeath. The corpse flower will be on display until 10 p.m. Monday as it reaches the end stages of its two-day-long bloom.
From there, Norfolk Botanical Gardens will be giving the corpse an autopsy, dissecting Lady Macdeath beginning on Tuesday. The flower’s remaining corpse will be available for public viewing in the Baker Hall Visitor Center between 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., NBG says.
Watch previous coverage: Visitors waiting for smelly corpse flower to bloom
Native to the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse flower is among the rarest plants on Earth, with fewer than 1,000 believed to remain in the wild. The flower blooms only briefly, typically reaching peak bloom for 24 to 48 hours, and may not bloom again for another 5 to 10 years. The plant is best known for its towering size and its powerful odor, which attracts pollinators in its natural habitat.
Because of the rare event, Norfolk Botanical Garden extended its hours and released timed-entry tickets, which sold out Sunday and Monday as visitors continued arriving throughout the day hoping to catch a glimpse—and a whiff—of Lady Macdeath before the bloom comes to an end.
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