'Corpse' Flower Rises in Belgium

The largest and --- arguably --- worst smelling bloom in the world has opened once again in Belgium.

An amorphophallus titaniumis, otherwise known as a titan arum or "Titan's Phallus" or "Corpse Flower," is blooming at the National Botanic Garden of Belgium for a third time within the last five years.

And visitors in Brussels have been waiting in long lines to see the rare blossom, which smells like rotting flesh and only stays open for about three days before withering.

"It's the largest flower in the world," Franck Hidvegi, a spokesman for the botanic garden, said in a video interview with the AFP news service.

Corpse flowers, can grow nearly 10 feet high tall, while the specimen at the Brussels botanic centers measures eight feet, which is still "quite exceptional," Hidvegi said.

"This really is an event that we are thrilled to share with the public today," he said.

In order to accommodate as many spectators as possible who wish to see and sniff the flower, the botanic garden planned to stay open late for the second consecutive day. The celebrated plant was expected to start waning on Wednesday.

Corpse flowers are endemic to Indonesia's Sumatra Island, where the plant grows in rain forests, although specimens of the aromatic plant are cultivated by botanic gardens throughout the world.

A pair of corpse flowers at Ohio State University's greenhouse blossomed in May.

The corpse flower was first scientifically described in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccariand first known to blossom in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, in 1889.

The first documented flowerings in the United States were at New York Botanical Garden in 1937 and 1939, the latter event inspired the designation of the titan arum as the official flower of the Bronx in 1939, though it was replaced in 2000 by the day lily.

The number of cultivated corpse flowers plants has increased the last several years, so it's become rather common for there to be five or more flowering events worldwide each year.

The titan arum is usually only available to the advanced gardeners.