When you think of flowers, you probably think of gorgeous, delicate blossoms giving off the most soothing, pleasant scents. But nature gifted some with a decidedly more distinct aroma—like the corpse flower, which treats those near it to the smell of rotting flesh with each pungent bloom.
The corpse flower is an endangered plant, but two are kept safely in greenhouses on opposite sides of the world. There’s the ever-popular Putricia, affectionately named after its “putrid” smell, residing in the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden. And then there’s Smelliot, housed in New York City’s Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Both Putricia and Smelliot graced their many fans with a rare bloom this week, with the Aussie flower bursting with decaying goodness on Thursday and its American counterpart following suit on Friday.
These enormous flowers can grow up to 9 feet tall, but Putricia stands at a petite 5 feet 3 inches. Smelliot is a tad taller at just under 6 feet.
Who would voluntarily inhale the sweet, sweet aroma of rotting flesh? A lot of people, apparently. Putricia’s many admirers waited hours in the Australian heat to get a good whiff of the temporarily blooming plant. Meanwhile, New Yorkers called out of work Friday to experience Smelliot’s acrid odor.
It’s not every day you can catch the “briny, dead fish” smell of the corpse flower, even if you’re a resident of Sydney or NYC. Putricia was the only one to bloom in the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden in 15 years. Smelliot’s bloom represented a first for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The corpse flower is the “largest unbranched inflorescence in the plant kingdom,” according to the United States Botanical Garden. The exact population of the fetid flowers is unknown, but experts believe there are only around 300 in the wild. In its natural habitat, it blooms only every seven to 10 years—and only for a day or two.
It makes sense, then, that the thousands who paid Putricia and Smelliot a visit this week count themselves lucky for the experience.
The post Two ‘Corpse Flowers’ Just Bloomed—and People Waited Hours to Smell Them appeared first on VICE.
