We are within days of yet another famed and rare bloom of one of the SF Conservatory of Flowers’ famed "Corpse Flowers,” plus the terrible smell that comes with it, and this year's gigantic flower has its own livestream.

If there weren’t already enough attractions for your forthcoming July 4 holiday weekend, San Francisco is getting another rare bloom of the Titan Arum “Corpse Flower” whose blooming smell has been compared to that of rotting flesh. A July 1 update from the SF Conservatory of Flowers says that “‘Chanel’ the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is a BLOOM! We expect Chanel to bloom as soon as within a week. This rare, spectacular bloom will only last for 2 days.”

But SFist can report that as of press time for this Wednesday afternoon post, the corpse flower has not bloomed yet. And how do we know this if we are not currently at Golden Gate Park’s SF Conservatory of Flowers, which is closed on Wednesdays anyway?

Because the Conservatory of Flowers has set up a livestream of the Titan Arum “corpse flower” which can be seen above. These blooms are a big deal to botany enthusiasts, as younger versions of the plant only bloom every seven to ten years, while older ones will bloom every three to five years.

“We predict that Chanel could bloom as soon as within a week,” the Conservatory of Flowers said in a Tuesday Facebook post. “This rare, spectacular bloom will only last for 2 days and on the first evening, Chanel will release a strong and pungent smell often compared to rotten flesh to attract pollinators.”


You may feel like these flowers bloom more frequently than you’re told they should in San Francisco, considering we had similar corpse flower blooms in 2022, 2023, and 2024. This is because the city is kind of a hotbed for specimens of the rare plant. The SF Conservatory of Flowers has five of them (this one named Chanel) which bloom on different cycles, and the California Academy of Sciences has one too.


We should remind you that going to the SF Conservatory of Flowers does require an advance ticket. Though these tickets are free for SF residents, while they’re $15.75 for out-of-town adults, with discounts for seniors and kids visiting from out of town.

Related: The Academy of Sciences' First Corpse Flower Is Getting Set For Its First Stinky Blooming [SFist]

Image: San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers via Facebook