Giant 'Corpse Flower' That Smells like Rotting Flesh Blooms in D.C. [VIDEO]
Brett Nuckles
Get a whiff of this: A gargantuan flower ready to bloom in Washington, D.C. may be the world's stinkiest.
An individual titan arum flower -- sometimes called the "Corpse Flower' -- is on display at the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory near the naton's capitol starting today, ABC News reports. It's expected to bloom Friday.
You may not want to stop and smell this one, though. Observers say its stench is reminiscent of rotting flesh, and the odor is detectable from up to 50 yards away.
But if you must, hurry. The flower's bloom lasts as little as 48 hours before it goes dormant again, and the stench lasts just a day.
And it's hard to say when you'll get another chance since it blooms unpredictably and sometimes not for several years.
Botanists believe the plant's smell attracts pollinating insects it needs to spread and reproduce.
The flower is not just famous for its unusual odor. The bloom is the tallest in of any flower and can attain a height of more than nine feet.
Earlier this week, curious residents lined up to see a titan arum flower bloom at a conservatory in Belgium, Lationos Post reports.
Take a look at the Belgian specimen in a video below: