Rare corpse flower blooms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, crowds drawn to its "stinky cheese, foot smell"

NEW YORK — A rare corpse flower has bloomed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where people waited in line for hours to get a whiff of its unique scent.

Gardener Chris Sprindis has been caring for the Amorphophallus gigas, or corpse flower, the BBG received seven years ago as a seedling from an orchid nursery in Malaysia. It's only one of four known to be in a garden in the United States.

It bloomed for the first time Thursday night into Friday. It normally takes 7-10 years for the first bloom, which doesn't last long. 

Why does it smell so bad?

"It's pollenated by flies and beetles that normally lay their eggs in dead animals so the larvae has something to eat when they hatch, but it smells like that to attract those insects, and in doing so, they inadvertently pollenate the plant," Sprindis said.

There was a long line of curious noses waiting to lean in and sniff for themselves Saturday.

Crown Heights resident Farah Marie Velten waited in line for two hours and says that's nothing compared to the years it took for it to blossom.

"And it makes you think about patience. That's what I was thinking about. That whole time it's been in the back here and they've been taking care of it, and you never know when it's gonna bloom and it did, so I'm happy that I came," she said.

It's not known how long exactly the bloom will last, but the BBG believes the bloom should last through Sunday. It only opens up for a couple of days before it goes dormant for the next three to five years before it blooms again.

The smell Saturday was already less strong than it was Friday.

What does a corpse flower smell like?

New Yorkers had many colorful descriptions for the odor emanating from the plant, named "Smelliott" by staff and the garden's social media followers.

"Oh, it smelled like rotting garbage," Upper West Side resident Lucia Moses said.

"Sweaty... Gym. It's like a locker room," Brooklyn resident CJ Glackin said.

"It's putrid," Brooklyn resident Afi Yellow-Duke said.

"It's the worst thing I've ever smelled," Flatbush resident Saul Pulido said.

"Yesterday at least was dead rat with a little garlic, a little burnt plastic. Today's been a little fainter, but it's still coming in waves, and I'm getting more of a stinky cheese, foot smell," Sprindis said.