The titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is not really a flower; technically it’s the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. At 6 to 8 feet tall in bloom, it’s striking. Also known as "corpse flower" because of the unbelievable stench, its spadix (flowering spike) rises from a corm (a type of underground tuber or bulb that can weigh more than 100 pounds).

The revolting smell attracts pollinators and occurs when the spathe, a modified leaf from which the spadix rises, heats up and opens, causing the female flowers ringing the bottom of the spadix to open and release their scent all at once. The experts at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in California describe the smell as “a combination of limburger cheese, garlic, rotting fish, and smelly feet.”

Typically, the titan arum takes seven to ten years to gather enough energy to produce a flower. The full bloom cycle is one to two days.