Great news, fam — the rotting stench of death will be coming to Golden Gate Park soon!
The San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers announced Tuesday that its magnificent corpse flower, named Chanel (no relation to the perfume), is beginning to bloom and is set to reach peak stinkiness within a week.
When the towering, phallus-like bloom fully unfurls its hideous red skirt, the stench of rotting flesh will emanate for two days throughout the halls of the conservatory, drawing dung beetles and humans who have longed to experience olfactory trauma.
Why does it smell so bad? Amorphophallus titanum emits a cocktail of malodorous compounds — dimethyl trisulfide (found in cooked onions and decomposing bodies), trimethylamine (rotting fish), and isovaleric acid (sweaty feet) — to mimic the scent of decaying meat. In the wild, this gruesome bouquet lures pollinators like carrion beetles. And each bloom is exceedingly rare — they happen every three to five years, according to the conservatory.
The last time a corpse flower bloomed at the conservatory was the summer of 2023, when a plant named Scarlet drew long lines of adoring — and disgusted — fans. In January 2024, a corpse flower bloomed at the California Academy of Sciences. That one, named Mirage, was a gift from the SF Conservatory of Flowers, which has five of its own. Many people — one of whom works at The Standard — took the day off work to see that one. If you skipped the earlier blooms, don’t miss out again.
To find out when exactly Chanel has fully bloomed, watch the Conservatory of Flowers’ livestream or check the Instagram page for announcements.
To prepare for your visit, a few tips: Don’t wear clothing that odors tend to cling to; leather, we observed, held onto the stench of rotting flesh for days after being in the presence of the corpse flower. Ditto knitwear. You’ve been warned.
Additionally, be patient. Death might be terrifying, but the scent of it emitted from an oddly vulgar yet decidedly inclusive flower — it resembles a strange mixture of both human sex organs — is alluring. The lines will be long. Bring snacks and puns to amuse yourself while you wait. And when you get to the front, be respectful, take a photo. Don’t puke.
Rejoice, death is near! But it won’t last long.
Alicia Cocchi contributed reporting.