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What's That Smell? It's The Corpse Flower Getting Ready To Bloom At The Huntington Gardens
The Corpse Flower at the Huntington Gardens. Last year's flower blossom lasted 40 hours.
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Courtesy of the Huntington Gardens
)
Topline:
The corpse flower, which can grow up to a massive 8 feet tall and blooms for only one to three days a year, is getting ready to bloom at the Huntington Gardens.
What's with the smell? When in bloom, it gives off a putrid odor to mimic decomposition to attract pollinators — apparently carrion beetles and flesh flies love the smell of rotting flesh.
Where to watch: You can check out the flower at The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science and on the grounds of the Huntington to get a whiff of the putrid smell. If you'd rather see it and not smell it — check out the Huntington's livestream here.
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