Visitors view and smell the corpse flower, or Amorphophallus titanum, at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino. The plant bloomed the previous night and emitted a vile smell similar to that of rotting meat. The last time it bloomed was in 2002. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
The plant flowers only once every few years or more. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
If you want to see the flower, go quickly. It has begun to close, and it could be shut in the next day or two. Botanists do not know when it will bloom again. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
Jeff Karsner, director of the children’s garden at the Huntington, plays to the crowd while wearing a replica of the corpse flower. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
The smell was too much for Lance Langbehn, 4, and sister Hannah, 9, of Simi Valley. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
The flower has drawn thousands of visitors this week. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
Nicole Rabaudi of Pasadena, with son Max, takes a photo. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
Sean Hanks, 8, smells from a squeezable tube laced with the flower’s scent. (Jake Stevens / Los Angeles Times)
