Jun 5, 2024 - News

Rare corpse flower blooming at Nashville Zoo

Adam Tamburin

Visitors look at tall corpse flower. — The corpse flower Zeus at the Nashville Zoo. Photo: Courtesy of the Nashville Zoo

Rare and remarkable sights abound at the Nashville Zoo, but a temporary attraction might be most well-known for its putrid smell.

State of play: A towering plant known as a corpse flower is currently blooming at the zoo. Corpse flower blooms — which smell, well, like a corpse — typically only last for a couple of days, so curious visitors must act fast to experience this marvel of nature.

The intrigue: The flower's pungent aroma attracts carrion flies and beetles that pollinate it in its native Sumatra, according to a zoo statement.

Driving the news: This particular flower, nicknamed Zeus, is on loan from Austin Peay State University. After recent storms damaged a university greenhouse, officials sent it to the zoo for its blooming period because the zoo has hosted corpse flowers before.

This is the second time Zeus has bloomed in 12 years.

The latest: The zoo has a live camera tracking the bloom.

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Rare corpse flower blooming at Nashville Zoo

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