Chicago Botanic Garden awaits bloom of stinky corpse flower

GLENCOE - Visitors to the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe hope to witness a rare event this week: the foul-smelling blossoming of a rainforest plant known as the corpse flower.

The garden is live-streaming video of the nearly 6-foot-tall titan arum plant, nicknamed "Spike." But video won't capture the smell of the blooming corpse flower, which garden officials say is a combination of Limburger cheese, garlic, rotting fish and smelly feet.

The scent attracts pollinating beetles and flies, according to information on the garden's website.

The bloom is expected to last only a few hours. The garden plans to open at 2 a.m. once the plant blooms. "Spike" is located in the garden's semi-tropical greenhouse at the Regenstein Center.

Corpse flowers are native to Sumatra in Indonesia.