Corpse flower blooms at Gage Park

The corpse flower in the greenhouse in Gage Park was attracting attention last week after it started to bloom Wednesday around 3 p.m.

The large outside leaf of the plant can be seen moving as it opens up wide. The plant gives off the smell like one of a rotting corpse as it flowers, to entice insects to pollinate it from another plant.

While the plant has both male and female parts, it cannot pollinate itself. The city received the plant from the Niagara Parks in 2019. It takes about 5 to 10 years for the plant to flower for the first time.

John Rennison is a Hamilton-based photojournalist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jrennison@thespec.com