Stinky Corpse Flower Blooms in Illinois: 'It Really Smells Like Rotting Meat'

Smell-curious visitors from far and wide flocked to the greenhouse of Eastern Illinois University this week to get a whiff of a rare corpse flower. The stinky blossom, so called because it smells like rotting meat, only blooms for one day every two years. "When you are standing next to it when it is blooming, you can actually taste the odor," Greenhouse manager Steven Malehorn. He added that the unique aroma of the flower helps attract flies, which serve as pollinators.