Bridget Reed Morawski
Reporting by Heather Curtis

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The corpse flower at the U.S. Botanic Garden opened earlier than anticipated on Tuesday, and by the end of the day thousands of people had come to pay their respect to the rotting blossom. People lined the sidewalk around the greenhouse into the night, with many still waiting their turn past 10pm.

It bloomed at approximately 4am on Tuesday morning.

This isn’t your average orchid; a finicky flower, it requires very particular and specialized care to even grow, let alone bloom. Its name derives from the allegedly corpse-like scent that wafts from the seven-foot-tall flower, though the famed aroma will have dissipated throughout the day.

The last time the corpse flower bloomed was in 2013, according to a spokesman with the U.S. Botanic Garden, and more than 20,000 people came to view the flower. This bloom, the number of visitors is expected to far surpass that.

“Everyone coming in the door still excited, they’re so happy,” said a spokesman with the U.S. Botanic Garden. “I think they just realize that it’s so unusual and so unique to come experience this that they’re willing to put up with a little bit of a wait.”

One attendee, a horticulture major at the University of Maryland named Ryan, told WMAL that he had unsuccessfully tried to growing his own corpse flower.

“Unfortunately I could not provide enough of the conditions to make it happy,” the horticulturist-in-training told WMAL. “As soon as it gets cold, they’re susceptible to rot – which is what happened to me.”

The botanic garden will be open until 11pm tonight, for the public’s late-night-corpse-flower pleasure.

Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Heather Curtis|WMAL)