Chauncy the Corpse Flower

The University of Minnesota Saint Paul Campus houses the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) Conservatory.  The home of the corpse flower that recently bloomed in February 2016.  The Conservatory offered free parking along the street that houses the conservatory and had a live stream of the corpse flower.  Here is a shot of Chauncy, the Corspe Flower, about a week before it bloomed.  This photo is from February 2.

Not much of a wait to get in that day at noon - of course there was a raging snow storm that day as well.  :)

Chauncy bloomed on Super Bowl Sunday (February 7) however I didn't go then as the flower didn't fall down/ open fully like it looks in the photo in the lower corner of my photograph above.  Little did I know that doesn't necessarily happen and did not happen with Chauncy.  I asked a student about it while I waited in line and she indicated that it doesn't always happen.  She indicated that Chauncy is not as big as some corpse flowers - some get upwards of 10 feet tall.  This has to be pretty good sized for living in a container though I'd think.

The day after the bloom opened, boy oh boy were there a lot of people (great for the conservatory and the line moved pretty fast which was good for me in order to make it back to work on time).

The flower is a deep red color but this is as far as it opened up.  I didn't smell the rancid meat smell that they say it smells like - to me it smelled like warm dirt.  It wasn't so awful. :)

Pretty cool!

This is university run and is free to the public but you are welcome to donate if you wish. They have many rooms with all sorts of cool plants.

Fun facts about Amorphophallus titanum (corpse flower):  it warms itself up in order to spread the smell farther to entice pollinators to it and it is native to the island of Sumatra.

If you visit you'll want to check campus maps to find parking - I was lucky enough to be able to take advantage of free parking on the street both times.  The conservatory is the building that says Biological Sciences Greenhouse (it's address is 1534 Lindig St.)  From Snelling turn west on Larpenteur (from Roseville that's a right turn and from St. Paul that's a left turn).  A few stoplights down is Gortner - turn left into the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. The first road that you can turn left on is Dudley turn left.  Left on the next street which is Lindig. The first building on the right is the greenhouse (conservatory).  Again, you can't park in front of the building but there are meters on Gortner just as you pass Dudley St. as well as Gortner Ramp which you'll find on the right after you pass Buford St.  

The conservatory is open Monday - Friday from 9am - 3:30pm and is open to the public.  Be sure you sign in/out when visiting.

Enjoy!