At Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, a rare corpse flower has bloomed. Nicknamed "Pangy," the plant belongs to the species Amorphophallus titanum. Its claim to fame is simple - it smells like rotting flesh. And still, people keep showing up.
The smell is hard to describe without comparisons. Visitors have likened it to rotting eggs, a dead bird, a compost pile, and a diaper left out in the sun. One student was more direct, telling the Associated Press it "genuinely smelled like rotting flesh." None of this, however, has kept the crowds away, as cited by News18.
The science behind the stench
According to News18, there is a reason the plant smells the way it does. Flies and beetles, which are naturally drawn to decaying matter, serve as its pollinators. The corpse flower mimics the smell of rot to lure them in. What repels humans is, biologically, doing its job perfectly.
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Gone almost as soon as it arrives
Blooms like this one are rare. The plant can spend years underground before flowering, and when it finally does, the bloom collapses within a few days. At Mount Holyoke, "Pangy" had been growing rapidly for weeks before it opened overnight. The smell was immediate noticeable the moment visitors stepped into the greenhouse. According to the greenhouse curator, "walking through the front door, we could smell it," becoming "overwhelming" the closer anyone got, as reported by News18.
Equal parts curiosity and spectacle
The report further stated, not everyone was overwhelmed. Some said the smell was less intense than expected, at least from a distance. Others found it familiar - farm manure, compost - unpleasant but not shocking. People took selfies, leaned in for a sniff, and compared notes with each other. It was equal parts curiosity and spectacle. And then it was gone. The bloom faded, the structure withered, and the plant retreated underground where it will wait, with no telling when it might bloom again.
