2 corpse flowers make for a stinky double bloom at Southern California's Huntington Library

Two stinky blooms are on display at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, and time is very limited to catch the stench.

The bloom, likened to rotten meat, stinky cheese, or boiled cabbage, lasts less than 24 hours and occurs only once every few years.

Native to the rainforests of western Sumatra, Indonesia, the endangered Titan Arum grows from a large corm, a bulb-like tuber underground. It can reach up to 12 feet high and 4 feet in diameter. 

Since 1999, The Huntington has publicly exhibited 29 corpse flower blooms, more than any other institution in the western U.S., according to the museum.

"Conservation is so important for our plants, and this is a plant that is endangered in the wild, and thanks to our conservation program that we started in 1999 with this plant, we've been able to propagate and share a division, a seedling of that plant with many different institutions,"   Brandon Tam, The Huntington Library associate curator, said.

One of the plants, nicknamed Odora, last bloomed in 2024, while the other is making its public debut.

Yenyen Chan got to see and smell the bloom. "It wasn't so pungent, but it was a light stinky smell, that I was, you know, expecting a giant smell, but it was actually okay," she said.  

Visitors will be able to view and smell the plants during regular public hours, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Huntington is closed on Tuesdays.