Queen City News features Smellvis, the latest corpse flower at the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens
The latest titan arum bloom at the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens was featured in “Corpse Flower ‘Smellvis the Titan’ blooms at UNC Charlotte” by Queen City News.
As of Monday, April 27, the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens reported that a 10‑year‑old titan arum was beginning to open for the first time. Known for its dramatic size and powerful scent, the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) emits an odor often compared to decaying flesh, a natural strategy to attract beetles and flies for pollination. Once open, the bloom typically lasts only 12 to 24 hours.
This bloom continues a long lineage of successful corpse flowers at UNC Charlotte, including Bella (2007, 2010), Odie (2015), Rotney and Odie (2018), Rotney (2020), Stinkerbell (2023) and Cadavera (2025). Cadavera brought 7,500 visitors to the gardens during the bloom.
After more than 150 name suggestions, the team from the Botanical Gardens voted to name the new titan arum Smellvis. Smellvis is the offspring of Adsila, from Rollins College, and Maudine, from The Ohio State University. It was planted in October 2016 using seeds originally sourced from Rollins College. After a decade of storing energy in its corm, an underground structure similar to a bulb, the titan arum is now producing its debut inflorescence.
Visitors can follow the bloom in person by visiting the Dinosaur Room at the McMillan Greenhouse or by viewing the livestream.
The news was also covered by the Niner Times and Yahoo!News.