Giant Rare 'Stinky' Corpse Flower Blooms For First Time In Years, 'Smell Of Death' Attracts Thousands

A bloom that only occurs every three-to-four years from a giant and rare Sumatran jungle flower — also known as the “corpse plant” due to its “smell of death" — has drawn massive crowds at the Southern California botanical garden.

The Amorphophallus titanum plant’s beauty and scent appear for about 48 hours. It has attracted more than 5,000 visitors as of Tuesday evening, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The blooming started on Sunday. Several workers stayed with the flower overnight to photograph, measure, study and hand-pollinate the flowers unfolding.

“It started out like a good French cheese, stinky but delightful,” Horticulture Manager John Clements, one of the employees who stayed with the plant, told the Tribune.

“Then it moved on to adolescent boys’ socks. Then it was junior high school gymnasium, followed by full-on rotten fish. Finally, it moved all the way to a rotting corpse smell that was so thick and heavy you could cut it with a knife,” Clements said.

The plant stays in pod form until it is ready to grow its long flesh-like spike, which has about a month-long growing cycle. When it’s ready to bloom, its flower opens up and releases its stink.

Clements said the plant’s strong scent is to attract carrion beetles and flesh flies to help with the re-pollinating process.