UPDATE: The corpse flower is blooming today, October 1, 2025! The greenhouse will be open until midnight. The smell will be strongest after 8 p.m.
UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens’ McMillan Greenhouse is home to several Titan Arum plants. They’re also known as corpse flowers because of the stench they create when they bloom, which only happens every few years. The smell has been compared to a cross between a corpse and a dirty diaper.
One Titan Arum, named Cadavera, is blooming SOON. UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens posted on Facebook that was expected to bloom sometime between Sunday, September 28, and Tuesday, September 30, 2025. However at the time of this update (September 30) it has not yet bloomed. Maybe October 1 or 2!
Follow UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens on Facebook to hear the moment it blooms. We’ll also update here.
It will bloom for just 48 hours and the distinctive smell will last only about a day. On the day that it blooms, the greenhouse will remain open until midnight so that everyone has a chance to get a good whiff of it.
Big crowds are expected — the blooming of previous corpse flowers have drawn thousands of people.
It’s free to visit, but donations are appreciated.
Can’t visit? Check out the live Bloomstream here!
Parking
McMillan Greenhouse is at 9090 Craver Road, Charlotte, NC.
If you come before 5:00 you will need to park in the East Deck (Bay 1) and pay for parking. After 5:00 you can park in Lot 5 or in East Deck 1 at no cost. If you have a handicapped tag then you will be able to park in the handicapped lot beside the Greenhouse after 5:00.
The address for East Deck 1 is 9110 Mary Alexander Road, Charlotte, NC. Here’s a parking map.
Fun Facts about Titan Arum
- It takes at least seven years for the Titan Arum to bloom.
- After that, it blooms often occur every three to seven years.
- The blooms are usually four to eight feet tall.
- The blooms remain open for a day or two.
- When the plant blooms, it heats up to human body temperature, allowing the smell to travel farther.
- The smell attracts pollinators.
- The plant’s Latin name was shortened to “Titan Arum,” by the naturalist Sir David Attenborough, who thought the Latin name, Amorphophallus titanum, might offend viewers of his BBC series.
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