Visitors are flocking to the Huntington Library in southern California to get a whiff of the so-called “corpse flower”, known for the rotten stench it releases when it blooms.
Huntington said the plant, nicknamed “Stink”, began blooming unexpectedly on Thursday night.
“It’s not like rotting… rotting meat or decaying rats or gym socks. I mean everybody has different opinions. Burnt Brussels sprouts. Everybody has a different opinion on it, but it’s… it’s pretty… it’s pretty interesting” said Brandon Tam, a Huntington Library orchid specialist.
The bloom likely will only last for 24 hours.
It was the sixth corpse flower to bloom at the institution in suburban San Marino.
Tam also stated that “[t]he entire group is called the Titan Triplets and of course that’s because we have a total of three. This is the first time the Huntington has actually bloomed a total of three, or going to bloom the total three in one season, which is quite rare. In the past, we’ve always been one plant at a time, so that’s why it was a surprise to see that we had three all at once.”
The last was on 23 August, 2014.
“Stink” was one of three corpse flowers expected to bloom within the next week.
The other two, nicknamed “Stunk” and “Stank”, should bloom in the next few days.
It typically takes 15 years for a corpse flower to reach a mature blooming size.