14 DAY TRIAL // A corpse flower bloomed at the Denver Botanic Gardens in the US earlier this week and hundreds of people are flocking to see it before it completes its life cycle and perishes.
This is despite the fact that, true to its name, the flower doesn't exactly smell pretty. On the contrary, the perfume it produces is best described as a stomach-churning rotten flesh fragrance.
The species, whose official name is Amorphophallus titanum and that is native to Sumatra, Indonesia, produces the disgusting smell to attract flies and beetles, which are its natural pollinators.
All the same, there are people who waited in line for up to 3 hours just to take a whiff. They probably regretted the call the moment the stench began to crawl up their nose, so there's probably no need for us to be jealous of them.
The Denver Botanic Gardens received the flower as a gift some time ago, in 2007. Although 13 years old, the flower has never before bloomed until this week.
Specialists say a corpse flower's bloom usually lasts for about 48 hours. Apparently, the one at the Denver Botanic Gardens is already beginning to close.
Since the plant is still young and small - by corpse flower standards, at least - its caretakers will not let it pollinate and form seeds as they fear this might stress it too much.
