A rare and unusual flower is blooming at the New York Botanical Garden. It's quite a sight .. and smell. NY1's Roger Clark followed the following report:
It's one of the largest flowers in the world. This one at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is 6-foot-4. Not only is it a giant -- it stinks.
"It is disgusting - putrid," says one woman who lined up to see it on Friday.
She was talking about the odor of the Amorphophallus Titanum, known more popularly as the Corpse Flower. Native to Sumatra in Indonesia, It has been nearly 80 years since one of these rare plants flowered at the New York Botanical Garden.
This one started its peak bloom at around 3 p.m. Thursday, .unleashing the scent of rotting meat into the Haupt Conservatory. It smells bad for a reason.
"It's pollinated by beetles and flies that like and lay their eggs on rotting flesh. So the plant not only produces that terrible fragrance, but it also looks and has the color of rotting meat," says Marc Hachadourian, director of the botanical garden's Nolen Greenhouses.
This particular plant was brought here in 2007, and nurtured by the staff ever since in hopes it would someday bloom.
It takes seven to 10 years for the plant to store enough energy to begin its bloom cycle. The peak bloom lasts just 24 to 36 hours, which brought long lines of visitors Friday to soak up the stench.
"It's a very small window and opportunity to see this once-in-a-lifetime experience," Hachadourian says.
And while the consensus is it smells like rotting meat, it really depends on who you ask.
"It kind of smells like vomit!" said one young girl who visited the garden Friday.
Asked what the smell reminded her of, another young girl said, "sweaty locker, rotten meat, rotten eggs and diarrhea."
It's going to be three to five years before this particular corpse flower blooms again.
As for the other dozen that they have at the New York Botanical Garden? When will they bloom? That's really up to them.
For more information on the New York Botanical Garden, check out nybg.org