Thousands Travelling to Dover to Smell This Nasty Flower Blooming in New England

Normally, people line up for "pleasant"  smelling treats...like standing in line for ice cream. Many people stand in line around gardens to smell the beautiful flowers. Well, thousands of people in New England, and beyond, are lining up to smell something rancid.

The amorphophallus titanum, or corpse flower, blooms once every 10 years. So it is extremely rare to catch the moment. But the nickname, corpse flower, comes with their smell. When it opens, every 10 years, a horrid gas smell is released.

"I came because it's a rare event and I always thought it'd be neat to see one of these rare flowers," visitor Shari Wall said in a CBS News article. "The smell is not easy to take, it's kind of like a hot garbage can!"

The flower itself is beautiful when opening... but the smell is what catches people off guard. After all, looks can be deceiving.

"It smells like rotting diapers. Though I hear when it gets hotter, it's more stinkier, so I'm glad I'm here when it's cooler," visitor Isaac Verardo said when checking out the flower in bloom in Dover, Massachusetts.

Sunday night, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was open until midnight for those who wanted to see and smell the nasty...I mean beautiful... flower. About 800 people lined up between 8 PM and midnight alone.