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Huge, rare ‘corpse flower’ blooms at Indiana University

A corpse flower preparing to bloom. (WISH Photo, File)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — A foul smelling plant known as the “corpse flower” is finally blooming at Indiana University in Bloomington.

The titan arum flower, nicknamed Wally, bloomed Friday and is expected to last through Saturday and possibly into Sunday.

It’s native to Sumatra’s equatorial rain forests and emits an odor like rotting flesh while it’s briefly in bloom. The titan arum is one of the largest flowers on earth and can reach 6 feet in height. It emits the stench to attract pollinators.

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

“Greenhouse supervisor John Lemon reported that the rotting stench was strong once the bloom fully opened around 9pm on Friday,” IU posted on its department of biology blog. “The odor was evident even outside of the greenhouse. Whiffs of the odor could be detected on Saturday morning, but it wasn’t very strong by then.”

IU’s greenhouse is open to visitors on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Click here for more information.The Associated Press contributed to this report.