'Smells Like Rotting Meat': Rare Corpse Flower In Bloom At Franklin Park Zoo

BOSTON (CBS) -- Something stinks at the Franklin Park Zoo. It's "Fester" - a rare corpse flower that is blooming for the first time in six years.

The gigantic corpse plant, or titan arum, fully bloomed on Saturday. The endangered plant native to Sumatra in Indonesia is "a little stinky."

"It smells like rotting meat, and that's by design," said Zoo New England Chief Operating Officer and horticulturalist Bob Chabot. "It smells that way to attract pollinating insects."

Fester won't be open for long. Blooms typically last only 48 hours at most.

The plant is in the Outback Trail section of the zoo. Tickets must be reserved online in advance due to the coronavirus pandemic.