Rare, heinous-smelling corpse flower blooms at Michigan conservatory

It's six-feet talland beautiful to look at, but you'd better hold your nose.

The rare corpse flower, as it's commonly known, has a stench that some describe as rotting meat. But the horticulturists attheFrederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. don't seem to mind.

Their18-year-old corpse flower, named Putricia, has finally bloomed.

"The moment you walk in the doors of the conservatory, the whole room had a pretty bad odour," saidSteve LaWarre, director of horticulture at Frederik Meijer.

"We were just incredibly excited about this."

LaWarrehas worked at the gardens for about 20 years, and has carefully watched as the plant was fertilized, re-potted, and cared for.

"The corm, which is a fancy name for a bulb, was just the size of a pea when we first got it in. We just re-potted it this last time in March of 2018 and it weighed 53 pounds," he said.

What's it smell like?

TheAmorphophallus titanum, as it's formally known, is native to rainforests of Malaysia. This particular plant was bred in the U.S., with pollen coming from the University of California used on a plant in Florida.

However, it's the smell and grandeur of the bloom that brought more than 5,000 visitors to see it on Thursday.

"When I kind of close my eyes and take a deep sniff some of the notes I smell are anything from sauerkraut and roadkill to you know if you've ever had a sweet Vidaliaonion that rots in the back of your cabinet," said LaWarre.

Guests were invited to explain what they thought Putricia smelled like.

"We had a lot of people say rotten garbage or a dumpster. I had one young kid tell me it smells like dead mice in an old gym bag," LaWarre laughed.

LaWarre said depending on where you were standing in the 5-storey tall conservatory, the smell was almost palpable.

Dead meat for a reason

The corpse flower is one of the largest and rarest flowering plants in the world.It can take up to a decade to produce a flowering structure and when it blooms is open for only 24 to 36 hours.

That putrid smell does have a purpose itattracts carrion beetles and flies that are the natural pollinators for the plant.

In the plant kingdom, it can grow up to 12-feet tall.

Lawarre said the precious Putriciacould make that height eventually.

"It's almost 6 feet tall, and the bloom will continue to get larger as it blooms in future years," he said.

The corm root will needto recover from this most recent bloom, LaWarre explained.

"That really needs to bulk up to 50 pounds before it has enough energy to support a bloom," he said. "I think in three to five years we'll see another bloom again hopefully."

For those hoping to see the bloom, Friday afternoon might be your last chance.

"It was in full open bloom yesterday but we're seeing it's starting to close," said LaWarre. "I would imagine by mid to late afternoon today that it will be all the way closed again."