Corpse flower blooms in Boston

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BOSTON, June 20 (UPI) -- Boston's Franklin Park Zoo said its corpse flower, named for the odor its flower gives off, bloomed overnight to welcome the first day of summer.

The amorphophallus titanium plant, nicknamed Morticia, measures 4 feet, 9 inches tall and has begun its 48-hour bloom, which takes place only once every 15 years, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

Zoo officials said the plant is one of only about 30 to bloom in captivity and needs to be kept in conditions mimicking those of its native western Indonesia, including a temperature of 82 degrees and a humidity level of 80 percent to 90 percent.

Zoo officials said the facility will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. while the flower is in bloom.