GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - People waited in line for about an hour Thursday to get a glimpse – and a whiff – of the much-ballyhooed corpse flower at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, with visitors comparing the stench to everything from sauerkraut to roadkill.
Among visitors to the popular Grand Rapids Township attraction was Kent County Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cohle. He and three co-workers were almost giddy for a chance to savor the botanical equivalent of rotting flesh. It did not disappoint.
“On a scale of one to 10, I’d put this at a 10.5,’’ Cohle said. “This is certainly a foul-smelling plant.’’
Others agree. Meijer Gardens staff set up a white board and invited people to jot down thoughts on what the plant smelled like.
Roadkill, stinky feet and siblings were common answers. One person even offered “my dreams and aspirations.’’ Um, OK.
But Cohle, who has visited death scenes around western Michigan for more than 30 years, compares the flower’s stench to someone who has been dead in a hot apartment for about two weeks.
“That’s something that stays with you,’’ he said.
Meijer Gardens Director of Horticulture Steve LaWarre called the flower’s unmistakable aroma "a beautiful stink."
The plant is native to Indonesia and takes many years to bloom. The Grand Rapids plant, dubbed ‘Putricia,’ has been working on its bloom for 18 years.
It opened about 9 p.m. Wednesday; the flower is expected to last through midday Friday, July 13th.
“That’s when we expect it to be completely closed and done smelling,’’ LaWarre said. “This flower will collapse and then it will go dormant and then leaf again. We’re hoping our next flower will be three to five years from now.’’
The plant, which goes by the scientific name Amorphophallus titanum, started as a year-old seedling in August, 2000.
“It’s been growing here for 18 years and this is the very first time it’s flowered for us,’’ LaWarre said. “It’s been so much fun having all these people lined up to see it.’’
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