While corpse flower Fester did show signs of pollination and an oncoming full bloom over the weekend, we’re disappointed to share that in the past 24 hours the flower has withered.

Fester will be removed from the Tropical Forest back to our greenhouse soon and the corpse flower’s life cycle will start over again.

Fester kept us in suspense over the past few weeks and though it seemed like a full bloom was on its way, it is a very rare event and we can never say with 100% certainty that it will happen. We did have a lot of fun watching this titan of the plant world grow so quickly, and hope you enjoyed following along.

Read more information on the corpse flower and view his growth here.

Illustration by Chicago Botanic Garden