LONG BEACH, Calif. - "Phil" the corpse lily is about to bloom on the campus of California State University Long Beach.

Biology graduate student Omar Kabbani is keeping a close watch on the Amorphophallus titanum. That’s the scientific name for the corpse lily, so called because it smells so bad when it finally blooms which only happens about once every decade.

“It’s like you’re guarding a really important piece of artwork,” said Kabbani.

Phil is 11 years old and has never bloomed before. It’s like a ticking stink bomb.

“I’m actually looking forward to it just because I’ve never experienced the stench in person yet,” said Kabbani.

Kabbani has been taking care of the plant for several years.

At first Kabbani wasn’t sure if Phil would bloom or just go into a vegetative state like every year. It kind of looks like a palm tree in that phase. He knew something was different when the protective barrier of the flower started getting fat a little more than a month ago.

Then the top torpedo looking part— called a spadix— emerged and that was the dead giveaway that the awful smelling bloom was on its way.

“This is pretty amazing and I think we’re very lucky that this flower is actually blooming today,” said Catalina Herrera, a recent graduate of CSULB.

Herrera is more than ready to accept the flower, warts and all.

“I teach biology so… That’s just one of its very particular traits and we need to embrace it, even if it smells like a corpse,” said Herrera.

The smell comes from the top part of the flower to attract pollinators. The smell is strongest the first night of flowering.

It’s been likened to rotting flesh, but the scent bouquet is complex. Dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfied are the main culprits. Methyl thiolacetate gives it a cheesy and garlicky odor and isovaleric acid sprinkles in a hint of sweaty feet.

Herrera says she’ll come back to see the fully formed flower. She’ll only have a short window though. The bloom lasts 24 to 48 hours.

“Looking forward to smelling how bad it is. The first time it’ll be cool and then maybe days later I’ll get tired of it,” said Kabbani.

After blooming, Phil will produce fruit and seeds so more corpse lillies might fill our nostrils in the next decade.