Visitors view the titan arum “corpse flower” at the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday, May 15, 2017. The plant is getting ready to bloom on Tuesday after being dormant for a decade. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Christy Marino, of Brea, photographs the titan arum “corpse flower” at the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday, May 15, 2017. The plant is getting ready to bloom on Tuesday after being dormant for a decade. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Alyssa Whatley, of Fullerton, views the titan arum “corpse flower” at the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday, May 15, 2017. The plant is said to let off a revolting stench during it’s bloom period. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bill Guppy, of Fullerton, surveys the titan arum “corpse flower” with daughter Marcella Guppy, 6, during a visit to the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday, May 15, 2017. The plant is getting ready to bloom on Tuesday after being dormant for a decade. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The titan arum “corpse flower” at the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday May 15, 2017, is getting ready to bloom after being dormant for a decade. The plant is expected to bloom on Tuesday. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)



The titan arum “corpse flower” at the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday May 15, 2017, is getting ready to bloom after being dormant for a decade. The plant is expected to bloom on Tuesday. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Arabella Schilk, 4, reacts to the stench of the corpse flower at the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday, May 15, during a visit with her father. The corpse flower is getting ready to bloom after being dormant for a decade. The rare plant is expected to bloom on Tuesday if the temperature is warm enough. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sarah Shahryar, of Placentia, reacts to a sudden whiff of the titan arum “corpse flower” at the Fullerton Arboretum on Monday May 15, 2017. The corps flower is said to produce a revolting stench which helps it attract flies for pollination. The plant is expected to bloom on Tuesday if the temperature is warm enough. (Photo by Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG)

FULLERTON It took a decade, but a pungent plant that smells like death finally came alive for the first time Monday at the Fullerton Arboretum.

The plant, Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower heats up as it blooms emitting a powerful stench, which some say is akin to rotting flesh.

The plant was blooming when staff members arrived early Monday morning, said Gregory J. Pongetti, Fullerton Arboretum’s living collections curator. The arboretum has displayed other blooming corpse flowers in the past, often drawing crowds eager to see if they really smell as advertised.

Native to western Sumatra, an island in western Indonesia, the plant is on loan to the arboretum from Cal State Fullerton’s Biology Greenhouse Complex.

“It’s a pretty uncommon occurrence and is not something that’s on display all the time,” said Pongetti. “We don’t know when it will flower again.”

During its 24- to 48-hour pollination process, as the corpse flower emits the foul odor, it attracts insects, such as carrion beetles and flies. The insects then carry pollen to other plants.

Although the plant appears to be one huge flower, hundreds of small male and female flowers are hidden at the bottom of a tall, column-like structure at the plant’s center called a spadix, according to CSUF officials.

The spadix is surrounded by a funnel-like green, red and purple sheath called a spathe, which unfurls to reveal the spadix when the plant is blooming and the flowers below are receptive to pollen.

The corpse flower is on display today, May 15, and Tuesday, May 16, in the Fullerton Arboretum’s Nature Center, 1900 N. Associated Road, on the north side of the Cal State Fullerton campus. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Entrance is free although donations are accepted.