DENVER - As the Denver Botanic Gardens' corpse flower bloomed late Tuesday night into Wednesday, hundreds of visitors flocked to it to get a whiff of the stinky flower.
The fragrance of the corpse flower is supposed to resemble rotting meat, which attracts carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies that pollinate the flower. The red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the corpse flower is a piece of meat. The stench has been described as spoiled eggs, a soiled diaper, rotting fish, dirty laundry or even day-old roadkill - for those who disturbingly know what that smells like.
However, some 9NEWS viewers were disappointed with how little the flower stank.
"Honestly, I can't [smell anything,]" one visitor said. "I even had my [barf] bag. I'm ready to go! Honestly, I just got a whiff just then. Just a tiny bit. [Smells like] diapers."
After receiving complaints that the visitors couldn't smell the flower, gardens workers removed the protective pane of glass around the flower. Even so, the stench wasn't enough for some.
"No, I don't smell anything either," a visitor said.
Some people were able to smell the corpse flower slightly, but couldn't quite put their finger on what it smelled like.
"I can't smell anything right now, but I've been smelling it in line, catching whiffs of it," another visitor commented. "It smells like trash can ... rot. Waking up at 4:30 in the morning, come down and smell some trash can smell. It's awesome."
Despite the slight disappointment in some visitors, there was still a three-hour wait to get up-close-and-personal with the corpse flower Wednesday morning.
For those who are still hesitant to smell it, here's a webcam of the flower: http://on9news.tv/1L69PpL.
The bloom can last up to 48 hours.
(© 2015 KUSA)
