The Titan Arum or Amorphophallus titanum (“corpse flower” in layman’s term) at the H. F. Thut Greenhouse, is approaching it’s bi-annual bloom.

Known commonly as the corpse flower because of it’s unique sent, the flower only blooms for one day and it usually blooms at night.

Steven Malehorn, the greenhouse manager said, he is expecting this year’s bloom to happen around 2:30 p.m. on June 30, but says it could possibly take roughly up to an additional four days to reach full bloom.

When the plant blooms, it can be seen from the south window of the greenhouse, and as the plant gets closer to blooming, the open hours at that the greenhouse will change slightly.

According to the Titan Arum section of the Thut Greenhouse website, beginning on June 18, the greenhouse will be open from 4 p.m.–7 p.m. until the plant blooms, and will be open until midnight on the day of the bloom. The day after the bloom, the greenhouse will be open from 9 a.m.–6 p.m. for visitors to come and see the plant, entrances are on the east and west sides of the greenhouse.

Also according to the Titan Arum website, on the day of the bloom, there will be handicapped parking on 7th street as well as a wheelchair entrance into the greenhouse on the east side of the building using the gate in the south part of the courtyard.

Malehorn theorizes, that the plant only blooms when it feels stressed or unhappy, and feels the late bloom may be due to it being in a bigger home than in previous years. So, it had room to move and expand a bit more, and it did not have as cramped of quarters as normal.

When the plant was moved to it’s bigger home, two additional “baby” plants were discovered with it.

The plant takes roughly 60 days to bloom and started it’s process around May 4, so it should bloom around late June to early July.

According to the Titan Arum website’s 2018 blog and pictures, The temperature outside can affect how far a person can smell the flower once it blooms, the warmer the temperature outside, the further the scent can travel. The smell has reached as far as the south end of campus in 2008, but due to the cooler weather in 2016, the scent barely traveled outside of the greenhouse.

Malehorn received the fruit of the plant in 2001 from the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, and nursed it through the first few years here at Eastern. The plant finally bloomed for the first time in 2008, and he said it draws in a large crowd every year.

The Titan Arum is “The main star around the greenhouse.” Malehorn said, “I expect around 150–200 people the week that it is expected to bloom. It’s a night bloom, comes out to party for a day and then goes back to bed for a couple of years.”

Mary Ellen Greenburg can be reached at 581-2812, or megreenburg@eiu.edu.