MADISON, Wis. — Thousands of people flocked to see and smell a rare plant in bloom at Olbrich Gardens. 

It’s home to a corpse flower that started blooming for the first time in 12 years. It’s known for its putrid smell, most commonly compared to rotting flesh. 

The flower first opened on Wednesday, and Olbrich opened for visitors Thursday. Staff had to cut off the line in the evening once the wait topped four hours. 

“I was very surprised that this many people wanted to smell a flower that smells like a dead body,” said Elijah Ruedinger. 

The Ruedingers tried to go on Thursday, but they could tell by the line that they’d be waiting too long. Instead, the kids got to play a little hooky Friday morning. 

Technically, the flower would’ve usually collapsed by Friday. However, staff at Olbrich said because of good weather conditions it was still standing. 

When asked what he was excited for, Ian Ruedinger said “just to see the flower. I’m not excited to smell it, though.” 

Jesse Hernandez tried to come on Thursday too. 

“The line was already wrapped around half the building,” Hernandez said. “So I literally did a loop through the parking lot, and went right back out.” 

People had all kinds of reactions to the flower. Overall, they had to get much closer to be able to smell it, now that it was starting to fade. 

After about an hour and a half of waiting, the Ruedingers came to the consensus that it smelled like a port-o-potty at a zoo. 

When asked what he though it smelled like, Hernandez immediately started laughing. “Garbage. Like rotting, rotting garbage.” 

Still, the novelty of the rare plant in bloom seemed to be worth the wait. 

Olbrich has another titan arum, which could bloom as early as next year.