Alberta stinkiest flower has bloomed once more!
"Putrella," the corpse flower at the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton, opened up overnight Monday, welcoming gardeners and staff with its terrible scent when they arrived to work Tuesday morning.
“It finally happened this morning at 3 a.m.!!,” a status update on the Muttart Facebook page read. “I haven’t even seen her (or smelled her) yet, but will post a picture as soon as I get into work!!”
The last time the flower bloomed was in April 2013, when it grew to a height of over eight feet. At the time, staff compared the overwhelming stench to "a diaper pail or hot garbage."
This year, visitors are comparing the smell to a "bucket of dead mice," Gayleen Froese, a communications adviser with the Conservatory, told the Edmonton Journal.
The flower, also known as the Amorphophallus titanum, is native to Sumatra, Indonesia. It often takes years between blooms, so this year's flower came as a bit of a surprise to staff.
The bizarre stench is supposed to last only one day, so the facility is extending its visiting hours and will remain open for the next 24 hours.
The video below captures a timelapse of Putrella's 2013 bloom:
For more information on the corpse flower, visit the Muttart Conservatory Facebook page.
Check out Putrella's astonishing 2013 growth: