CHESTERFIELD – A corpse flower named Callie is about to bloom for the first time ever at the Sophia M Sachs Butterfly House in Faust Park.

But for those who can’t see it in person, the Missouri Botanical Garden is live-streaming Calli from their YouTube channel. 

The Amorphophallus titanium, commonly called the "corpse flower," only blooms two to three days once every two to three years. Its bloom may grow up to eight feet tall. The endangered flower, native to Sumatra, Indonesia, is best known for the horrid odor it emits from a tall spike of small flowers. Mimicking rotting flesh by its color and smell helps the plant attract pollinators such as flies.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Species lists the plant as endangered in the wild.

Experts at the Botanical Garden believe the public’s fascination with the corpse flower stems from a similar fascination to the absurd, odd, or “alien-like appearance.”

The scent it gives off is often described as a combination of cheese, sweat, garlic, feces and rotting fish. Calli will be the sixteenth Amorphophallus titanium flowering that the Botanical Garden has hosted.