{"id":20771,"date":"2025-01-24T21:44:59","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T22:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=20771"},"modified":"2025-01-25T00:00:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T00:00:16","slug":"whats-that-stench-a-corpse-flower-blooming-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=20771","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s That Stench? A Corpse Flower Blooming at Brooklyn Botanic Garden."},"content":{"rendered":"
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There is no shortage of unpleasant odors in New York City: overflowing garbage on the sidewalk, unmentionable substances in the subway, traffic fumes and more. This week, yet another foul scent has entered the smellscape, but in this case, New Yorkers are flocking to experience it: the blooming of an Amorphophallus gigas, a.k.a. a corpse flower, at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.<\/p>\n

The rare plant smells of rotting flesh to attract pollinators like beetles and flies that are typically drawn to dead animals. It only flowers every three to five years after its first time, which can take nearly a decade. Technically, the blossom is an inflorescence, not a flower, because it is several little flowers altogether \u2014 think of hydrangeas or hyacinths.<\/p>\n

When the garden announced the bloom\u2019s arrival on social media around 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, New Yorkers skipped work and canceled plans, rushing to bear witness to the natural wonder. They buzzed around the gigas, which is nearly six feet tall, taking photos and breathing deeply.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Inside the garden\u2019s Aquatic House, where the plant is kept, its stench was unavoidable. It also changed with time. At first it evoked a dead rat, but later in the morning it was more akin to cheese or ginkgo. And the experience was multi-sensory: The gigas emits heat, also to lure pollinators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Amorphophallus gigas has been at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden since 2018. On Friday, it flowered for the first time. <\/span>Adrienne Grunwald for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The corpse flower has become an unlikely celebrity, giving New Yorkers something weird and wonderful to celebrate amid the cold and dark of January. After soliciting nominations on Instagram, the members of the garden\u2019s staff named it \u201cSmelliot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There is no shortage of unpleasant odors in New York City: overflowing garbage on the sidewalk, unmentionable substances in the subway, traffic fumes and more. This week, yet another foul scent has entered the smellscape, but in this case, New Yorkers are flocking to experience it: the blooming of an Amorphophallus gigas, a.k.a. a corpse flower, at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.The rare plant smells of rotting flesh to attract pollinators like beetles and flies that are typically drawn to dead animals. It only flowers every three to five years after its first time, which can take nearly a decade. Technically, the blossom is an inflorescence, not a flower, because it is several little flowers altogether \u2014 think of hydrangeas or hyacinths.When the garden announced the bloom\u2019s arrival on social media around 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, New Yorkers skipped work and canceled plans, rushing to bear witness to the natural wonder. They buzzed around the gigas, which is nearly six feet tall, taking photos and breathing deeply.Inside the garden\u2019s Aquatic House, where the plant is kept, its stench was unavoidable. It also changed with time. At first it evoked a dead rat, but later in the morning it was more akin to cheese or ginkgo. And the experience was multi-sensory: The gigas emits heat, also to lure pollinators.The Amorphophallus gigas has been at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden since 2018. On Friday, it flowered for the first time. Adrienne Grunwald for The New York TimesThe corpse flower has become an unlikely celebrity, giving New Yorkers something weird and wonderful to celebrate amid the cold and dark of January. After soliciting nominations on Instagram, the members of the garden\u2019s staff named it \u201cSmelliot.\u201dWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20773,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20771"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20774,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20771\/revisions\/20774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}