Flower Famous for Rotting Corpse Smell

Kelsy Brown

Staff Writer

Despite the harsh weather conditions, visitors and tourists journeyed to New York City on the weekend of Jan. 24 to converse over the blooming flower turning heads and noses at the New York Botanical Garden. For the first time since its arrival to the garden in 2018, the remarkable Amorphophallus gigas—nicknamed “Smelliot” by the botanical garden staff—went into full bloom. The Amorphophallus gigas is native to Sumatra and came to the garden as a seedling from Malaysia.

The Amorphophallus gigas is related to the Amorphophallus titanum, which is commonly known as the “corpse flower.” According to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, the Amorphophallus gigas is “slightly less dramatic in appearance than its relative, the distinctive inflorescence (flower head), and can grow even taller and emits a similar carrion scent to attract fly pollinators.” The rare Amorphophallus gigas emits a smell of rotting flesh, which attracts pollinators that lay their eggs in dead animals.

According to the Associated Press, Elijah Blades, a visitor of the rare blooming plant, stated, “It smells like feet, cheese and rotten meat. It just smelled like the worst possible combination of smells.”

Chris Sprindis, a gardener at the botanical garden, noticed the cluster of flowers inside the blooming plant around New Year’s Eve. Since then, staff has been keeping a watchful eye (and nose) on the plant, watching it rapidly increase in size. The bloom was short-lived as it lasted from Jan. 24 to Jan. 26; however, the short period did not stop the flow of people visiting the garden to experience the putrid smell. Roommates, Nadia and Alexa, told the Brooklyn Paper that they had called every day the previous week to see if the flower was in full bloom. They stated, “We’re thrilled to be here. We brought our friends, who had no idea what it looked like before. They just came along for the ride and waited graciously in two-and-a-half hours of the cold, but yeah, totally worth it.”

The Amorphophallus gigas is a rare species as according to the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), “only nine other botanic gardens are listed as having one.” Another inflorescence of the rare corpse flower will not be soon as Sprindis told the Associated Press, “It’s going to be several years before it happens again.”