What's That Smell? Sunshine The Corpse Flower Competes With Eclipse

GLENCOE, IL — All eyes turned to the skies Monday in Chicagoland, but visitors to the Chicago Botanic Garden got another sensory experience as the aptly named "Sunshine" gave the solar eclipse a run for its money. Sunshine is the latest corpse flower to bloom at the garden and the first to be housed outside, where visitors can stop by until 9 p.m. to see it in the Sensory Garden. Staff at the garden reported on Monday that the flower's distinct aroma — that of rotting garbage — still lingered in the air.

It's not the first corpse flower, or titan arum, to bloom at the garden — that honor went to Spike, a corpse flower that failed to fully bloom on its own and had to be opened manually. The flowers can grow to be six to eight feet tall. Two more corpse flowers, Java and Sumatra, bloomed earlier this summer, but Sunshine is the first to be moved outside.

Why move Sunshine out into the, er, sunshine? "We wanted to display the corpse flower in a more natural setting; our other titan arums were displayed in a greenhouse," botanic garden staff said. "A native of the equatorial rainforests on the island of Sumatra, the corpse flower thrives in heat, humidity, and shade. Our scientists and horticulturists will track Sunshine’s growth and development in the fresh air, Chicago’s unpredictable summer weather, and yep, its namesake, sunshine."

With the total solar eclipse and Sunshine dueling for visitors' attention, hundreds of people flocked to the garden on Monday. By late morning, Chicago Botanic Garden staff issued a notice that "due to overwhelming response," parking lots had reached capacity.

Watch WBBM's broadcast from the Chicago Botanic Garden as Sunshine bloomed on Sunday:

Get updates on Sunshine on the Chicago Botanic Garden website.

"Spike" the corpse flower at the Chicago Botanic Garden in August 2015/Patch file photo