Tens of Thousands Visit U.S. Botanical Garden to Smell Stinky Corpse Flower
Posted on July 24, 2013
A Titan Arum starting blooming Monday at the U.S. Botanical Garden. The stinky plant, also known as a corpse flower, reportedly attracted over 120,000 people who came to see the flower bloom and smell its foul odor.
The putrid odor has been compared to rotting flesh. PBS Newshour says the smell has also been compared to dirty gym socks and a "box of dead rabbits." The U.S. Botanical Garden says the bad smell helps attract pollinators, such as dung and carrion beetles, from far away.
The plant is native to rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. The bloom only remains open for 24 to 48 hours. The U.S. Botanical Garden has fourteen titan arums. This was its first to bloom since 2007. Here is a time lapse video of the titan arum blooming:
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