UPDATE: Stinky 2 in Full Smell

***Updated at 4:42 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6.***

The “corpse” plant at the Pana`ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens is blooming and stinking, according to a post on the Friends of the Zoo Facebook page.

“Stinky 2 is in bloom and the smell is getting stronger by the hour,” said the caption of a photo posted around noon today.

The plant is the second of the zoo’s specimens of Amorphophallus titanium, a rainforest plant endemic to western Sumatra, to bloom since 2011.

Looking inside Stinky 2. Photo courtesy of Friends of the Zoo.

The zoo, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, is located on Stainback Highway. From Hilo go south on Highway 11 and turn right on Mamaki Street, about 2.5 miles from the Prince Kuhio Plaza.

Admission to the zoo is free.

Posted at 7:24 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6:

Stand back  – Stinky 2 is about to do his/her thing.

The “corpse” plant at the Pana`ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens is starting to bloom, a spokesman for the county Department of Parks and Recreation said today.

Full bloom is expected to occur on Friday, and to last about 48 hours.

This is the second of the giant rainforest plants at the zoo to blossom in the past three years.

This is how Stinky 2 appeared a week ago. Courtesy photo.

The plant earns its nickname from the fumes released during flowering that resemble rotting meat. The odor attracts pollinating beetles and flesh flies (the plant has both male and female flowers).

After its initial blooming, it can take anywhere from two years to a decade for the plant to flower again.

The zoo is located on Stainback Highway south of Hilo.