How stinky is the corpse flower in Edmonton?
Apparently, it depends on what time of day you went to smell it Monday.
"Putrella" bloomed at the Muttart Conservatory overnight Sunday, welcoming gardeners with the horrible stench when they came to work Monday morning.
“It smelled like a diaper pail or hot garbage. It made me tear up a little,” Sarah Birmingham, a Muttart employee told the Edmonton Journal.
“It’s kind of like if you left a diaper pail in the garage at 30 C and then took the lid off,” said her boss, James McIvor, who made the decision to buy the plant.
Story continues below the slideshow
Edmonton Corpse Flower (PHOTOS, TWEETS)
But not everyone got a similar whiff. Thousands of people waited in long lines throughout the day to see and smell the first flower of its kind to bloom in Western Canada - but the smell began to diminish throughout the day.
"The smell was very strong overnight and this morning. Throughout the day the plant was less smelly. We are not sure if it will start smelling again overnight. It is too bad not everyone got to experience the stench!" the conservatory responded on their Facebook page to several people who complained about the flower's mild scent.
The giant flower, more than two metres tall and native to the jungles of Sumatra, is only expected to last until Wednesday morning. After it wilts, the plant will remain dormant again for several years.
The rotten odour, which is compared to spoiled meat, is used to attract flies needed for pollination.
LOOK: The corpse flower in full bloom
