Stinky 'corpse flower' in full bloom in California

Visitors were flocking to the Huntington Library in Southern California to get a whiff of a so-called corpse flower, known for the rotten stench it releases when it blooms.

The flower, nicknamed "Stink," began blooming unexpectedly on Thursday night, Huntington spokeswoman Lisa Blackburn said.

"We thought we had a few more days to go. But it was ready and it was pretty spectacular," she said.

Corpse flowers typically take 15 years to reach a mature blooming size, and blooms usually only last 24 hours. The foul odour the plants emit attracts insects for pollination. The plants don't emit the foul odour until they bloom.

"Stink" is the sixth corpse flower to bloom at the institution in suburban San Marino. The last was on August 23, 2014.

The plant is one of the three corpse flowers expected to bloom within the next week. The two other flowers, nicknamed "Stunk" and "Stank," should bloom in the next few days, Blackburn said.

The Huntington is seeing more visitors than normal because of the flowers, she said.

"The great thing about these flowers is they're so unusual-looking and have this reputation for smelling really bad, it gets all kinds of people really interested in botanical science," she said. "It's just a charismatic plant.