The Corpse Flower: Description, Life Cycle, Facts, and More

The plant continues to bloom in New York's botanical garden today (see time lapse video of 2019 corpse flower bloom at NYBG below), as well as at a small but growing number of larger botanical gardens around the world, where they are commonly planted and admired whenever they're in bloom, in spite of the noxious odor.

The Corpse Flower Smell
In a study published in 2010 in the journal Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, researchers performed a gas analysis of chemical elements and compounds derived from the inflorescence of corpse flowers. The main odorant causing the smell during the flower-opening phase was identified as dimethyl trisulfide, a compound with a sulfury odor that is emitted from some vegetables, microorganisms, and cancerous wounds. Other chemicals include dimethyl disulfide, which strikes a garlic note; isovaleric acid, which contributes to the smell of sour sweat; and methyl thiolacetate, with an odor that blends garlic and cheese.1

In short, titan arum releases a potent smell that combines rotting wounds, garlic, cheese, and old sweat, to attract the flies and beetles necessary for its pollination.