Vancouver’s corpse flower bloom fades, along with its rotting flesh smell

Vancouver’s rare corpse flower, dubbed Uncle Fester because of its overwhelming stench, is no longer raising a stink.

The Vancouver Park Board says the titan arum, a plant native to Sumatra and the largest flower on earth, has closed its funnel-shaped petal around its two-metre central spike as the brief bloom period draws to a close.

The park board says in a statement that part of the petal is still slightly open and the red interior of the flower is still visible but the smell has dissipated.

The flower only blooms a few times during its roughly 40-year life and while blooming it emits a powerful odour similar to rotting flesh in order to attract pollinators such as carrion beetles that feed on dead animals.