Corpse Flower Blooms, Makes New York Smelly

The smelliest flower in the world is getting ready to bloom for the first time in a decade. 

The flower is called the “corpse flower” because…well, it smells like a dead body. 

Most people, fortunately, have not smelled a dead body, so to give you a comparison you can relate to, some people who have smelled the corpse flower have said it smells similar to “limburger cheese” and “smelly feet.”

Limburger cheese, by the way, is often consumed in sandwich-form, between two slices of rye bread. 

It wasn’t too long ago when the corpse flower was in bloom at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, but now there is one waiting for its moment to shine (or to smell?) at the New York Botanical Garden. 

Corpse flowers bloom every 6 to 10 years, and when they do, they usually only last about 24 to 48 hours. 

But you can’t forget that smell – rotting flesh.

Corpse flowers sometimes grow 6 to 8 feet tall, and this one is said to be 12 feet tall. When it blooms, it can be as wide as 10 feet. 

The corpse flower at the New York Botanical Garden that looks like something out of Jurassic Park. 

Last time the flower bloomed, it was in 2016, and the New York Botanical Garden shared the time lapse from the last bloom on their official website. 

You can watch the flower bloom in real time via the official live stream, which you can watch here.