SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The so-called corpse flower, known for its horrible smell, is finally blooming at the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas.
The flower gets its nickname because it smells like rotting flesh while it’s blooming. The blooming flower will only give off its scent for 3-4 days. The scent is the most pungent during the evening, so the San Diego Botanic Garden has extended its visiting hours until 10 p.m. while the flower is in bloom Wednesday and Thursday.
"[The flowers] are mostly interested in night-time pollinators, so insects that are active at night. They produce the most nasty smelling stuff at night,” said Ari Novy, the President and CEO of the San Diego Botanic Garden.
Botanic Garden officials said this particular flower was donated in 2016 and has never bloomed before -- until Tuesday.
Officials said corpse flowers don’t bloom often, and it will probably be years before this plant blooms again.
"If you go to the zoo, people love baby Pandas," said Novy. "If you go to the botanic gardens, people love big smelly flowers. Why? I don't know — that's more of a philosophical conversation."
The Botanic Garden named this blooming flower Ozzy in honor of the late rock music legend Ozzy Osbourne.
Anyone interested in seeing -- or smelling -- Ozzy the corpse flower can do so by visiting the San Diego Botanic Garden at 300 Quail Gardens Drive (at Ecke Ranch Road).
Watch a livestream of the corpse flower:
