PITTSBURGH — The folks at Pittsburgh’s Phipps Conservatory are making a stink over their newest exhibit. Then again, the exhibit itself is contributing to the stench.
A rare corpse flower is blooming and the conservatory was staying open until 2 a.m. Thursday to give visitors a chance to see — and smell — the unusual plant.
The plant blooms only every six to 10 years and, even then, it last only one to two days. While in bloom, the plant gives off a pungent odor that some say smells like trash and others say mimics rotting flesh — hence the plant’s name.
The conservatory has named the plant Romero after Pittsburgh filmmaker George Romero, the man behind the 1968 cult zombie classic “Night of the Living Dead,” which was being screened twice Wednesday night at Phipps.