Foul smelling "corpse flower" blooms in New York City

NEW YORK -- A foul smelling plant known as the "corpse flower" bloomed at the New York Botanical Garden in New York City.

Visitors waited in line more than an hour to see the rare bloom. It started emerging Thursday afternoon after more than 10 years of growth.

It's native to Sumatra's equatorial rain forests and emits an odor like rotting flesh while it's briefly in bloom.

Jim Kelly, left, and his son Leo of Smithtown, N.Y., learn about the life cycle of Amorphophallus titanum, right, which is about to bloom inside the Enid Haupt Conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden, Thursday, July 28, 2016, in New York. Kathy Willens, AP

It's one of the largest flowers on earth and can reach 6 feet in height. It emits the stench to attract pollinators.

"It's beautiful. It's something people should see," visitor Susan Nehama told WCBS Radio.

Nehama and her daughter, Sofia, said the sight of the flower was definitely worth the wait.

"The few ways I've heard the smell is described is rotting meat and a dead body," one girl told CBS New York earlier this month.

The bloom at its peak only lasts about 24 to 36 hours -- and it could be years before the flower blooms again.

This is the first time since the 1930s the New York Botanical Garden has hosted this exotic species.

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