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A flower blooms in Brooklyn, and it reeks of rotting flesh
By
Liam Quigley
Published Jan 22, 2025
Modified Jan 22, 2025
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Chris Sprindis/Courtesy Brooklyn Botanic Garden
By
Liam Quigley
Published Jan 22, 2025
Modified Jan 22, 2025
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There's a disgusting odor brewing in Brooklyn, and it’s so rare that locals are eager to catch a whiff.
A flower at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that emits a noxious smell when it blooms every two to 10 years is expected to pop this week, according to the garden’s staff.
The corpse flower, which is native to Indonesia and known scientifically as Amorphophallus gigas, grabs headlines at gardens across the world whenever it blooms. As it readies to unfurl its petals, the flower releases a natural odor meant to attract scavenging beetles that eat dead animals.
The flower is likely to bloom by the end of the week in an event that will only last for a few days, according to the garden's director, Adrian Benepe.
Eric Schaller, a biology professor at Dartmouth College who studies corpse flowers, says the blooming plants are a scent to behold.
“They smell like rotting flesh so as to attract their pollinators,” he said.
Schaller knows the stench well: He’s slept next to corpse flowers as part of his research, and used thermal imaging to monitor the plants’ temperatures that increase just before they bloom.
“It basically feels like a body at that point,” Schaller said of the warm, stinky flowers.
The corpse flower is located in the garden’s aquatic house. After the garden posted a video of the plant to Instagram last week, dozens of commenters replied with plans to visit in hopes of catching it in bloom.
“ To me, part of it too is just how fascinated people are by this,” said Schaller. “Young kids will be fascinated, but then run away when it smells too bad.”
The public can see and smell the corpse flower during the garden’s opening hours, which run Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The garden is holding its annual "winter weekdays," which allows visitors to pay what they wish to enter.
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Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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