Giant ‘corpse flower’ with odor of rotting flesh blooms next door to US Capitol

U.S. Botanic Garden prepares for the smell of death

WASHINGTON — The long wait is finally over for visitors who have been yearning for a whiff of a giant flower that smells oddly like rotting flesh.

Titan arum, a giant rainforest plant that has been dubbed the "corpse flower" for its terrible smell, finally started blooming Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Botanic Garden next to the Capitol. Experts had been anticipating its bloom for more than a week and extended the garden's hours for visitors each night.

The world's largest flower might bloom this week, spreading a corpse-like stench throughout the garden.

Garden officials expect "peak smell" to occur early Monday morning, and the flower to remain open for an estimated 24 to 48 hours. Then it will begin to collapse on itself. The last corpse flower to bloom at the U.S. Botanic Garden was in 2007.

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