MILWAUKEE — A Corpse Flower at the Mitchell Park Domes is in full bloom, and full stink, but the attraction won't last for long.
According to Horticulturist Mary Braunreiter, who runs the Tropical Dome, the rare flower blooms once about every eight years and only for about a day and a half. After that, she said, the flower collapses and begins a cycle of growth until a new flower blooms.
"It's beautiful and it's not like any flower that you'd ever see in Wisconsin," said Braunreiter.
Or any flower that you'd smell in Wisconsin either.
Braunreiter said the smell is the plant's way of attracting pollinators. Not honeybees, she said, but flies and carrion beetles in Sumatra.
"So, it's not a sweet smell. It smells like a dead chipmunk or something you'd find in a trap in your basement," she said.
The flower drew massive crowds to the Mitchell Park Domes on Friday. Some people said they waited more than two hours in line to see and smell the Corpse Flower.
"Smells terrible. I wish I didn't smell it," said Calvin Schmit.
His big brother, Ethan, had a slightly different take.
"I think I overestimated how bad it would smell. It didn't smell great, but it didn't smell terrible," said Ethan Schmit.
Friday and Saturday will be the only opportunities to visit the flower in bloom. The Domes are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, with final admission one hour before closing.
Braunreiter said the attraction has been wonderful for the Domes.
"There's probably people here that have never been to the Domes before. There are people learning about endangered species, which the Corpse Flower is. We all need to learn more about the earth, the planet, and the species that live here," she said.
If you miss it this year, you may not have to wait for the full cycle. The Domes have eleven corpse flowers, with others previously blooming in 2018 and 2021.
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