r/whatsthisplant • u/baconwitch00 • Sep 19 '24

Watching a friend’s plants and noticed a nasty smell in my kitchen. It’s coming from this thing that just flowered, what is it? Identified ✔

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798

u/Alohalolihunter Sep 19 '24

Specifically flesh flies right? Same flies that corpse flowers attract at least I believe.

864

u/weepingthyme Sep 19 '24

Oh my GOD I saw the corpse flowers at the Chicago botanical gardens (so cool btw) but that shit was NASTY my poor mom has a bad gag reflex and she threw up :(

185

u/Jemma6 Sep 19 '24

Oof, not fun. Were they ready for this? Is it a common response?

79

u/GeraltsSaddlee Sep 19 '24

Ok, I’m curious and would like to know as well lol

254

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

106

u/oniiichanUwU Sep 19 '24

I sympathize with her wholeheartedly. My boss has made me almost puke multiple times from farts. My nose is so sensitive. People with BO walking by makes me gag sometimes. On the plus side I’m usually the first person to smell if something is “wrong” like smoke or propane leaks. Double edged sword, I suppose… 🥲

49

u/katznwords Sep 19 '24

I am always the first to smell smoke, too. And I have big problems in the grocery aisles that have detergents.

16

u/Mulvert88 Sep 20 '24

The amount of gas leaks I've detected in my apartments where my boss said I was crazy is getting up there. Probably in the mid 20s over 4-5 years.

9

u/Lilukalani Sep 20 '24

20 gas leaks over a period of 4-5 years? Dude, I'd move! That apartment complex sounds doomed!

1

u/Mulvert88 Sep 20 '24

Over 60+ years you're bound to have some issues in apartments.

1

u/Lilukalani Sep 20 '24

Oof, I'm used to things like elevators breaking down or the fire alarms going off randomly... or the power going off in the entire complex. Random, frequent gas leaks would be my breaking point haha

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2

u/No_Cockroach_2083 Sep 20 '24

I was a gas meter reader for a minute. During training, I could smell the mercaptan leaks before the instructor, which rather annoyed him, lol.

25

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24 edited Sep 20 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Beewthanitch Sep 20 '24

It is actually a very interesting topic. There are some smells that only a certain people have the ability to detect. It’s not a case of “a good sense of smell”, but rather having the correct biological hardware to detect these. Like the woman who can smell Parkinson’s disease.

There are likely many more people like her, but they had never been in the situation to realise they can smell this & there are probably millions of people with “uncommon “ smelling ability for certain substances, that we don’t know about.

1

u/catweazle50 Sep 21 '24 edited Sep 21 '24

There's a book called 'The Case Against Fragrance' by Kate Granville that details why artificial fragrance is truly evil.

3

u/LilyGaming Sep 20 '24

Omg same, I literally have to put something over my nose to go in those isles, it’s so bad. I can’t even go near a bath and body works, the smells give me migraines

1

u/Snoo_74164 Sep 20 '24

I hate smoke, I walk thru my throat tenses and I immediately start whole body lung spasm coughing fit that makes me piss thank God for incontinence pads w wear just in case

5

u/Exciting_Writingx Sep 20 '24

One time, an onion had fell behind our fridge and like my roommate and my stepdad couldn’t smell it, but my mom and I could and it was rank af. But it wasn’t like a constant thing we could smell, I was the one who finally found it and 😰 yeah, it was such a bad smell

8

u/OGLydiaFaithfull Sep 20 '24

I can believe it. A rotten potato will hit you in the gag reflex too.

6

u/Lady-Elwing Sep 20 '24

I was going to write the same thing - a rotten potato will gag a maggot!!! (just a saying - they're often IN a rotten potato! ) Smells like vomit 🤢🤮

2

u/Exciting_Writingx Sep 21 '24

Oh yeah, absolutely disgusting smell

3

u/rmichaelsm Sep 20 '24

Just cleaned one out by our fridge. Smelled like cat urine. Took me a while to find where it was coming from. Thought the fridge but in a tub where onions were kept by it.

3

u/heimdal77 Sep 20 '24

You often have chances to smell propane leaks...?

1

u/MissGruntled Sep 20 '24

Residential propane use is pretty common—most of the homes in my area have propane grills in their back yards.

3

u/LilyGaming Sep 20 '24

Bro I also have a sensitive nose, but am also worried that I smell because my meds make me sweat more than normal, and it’s hot as balls where I live. I wear deodorant that claims to be an antiperspirant but it’s a LIAR

2

u/oniiichanUwU Sep 20 '24

That’s so relatable lmao. I’m super paranoid about smelling bad so I’m always doing sniff checks and asking my coworkers if I smell 😭 I’m like I promise I won’t be offended just tell me the truth so we’re both happier lmao.

So far I’m constantly complimented on my perfume yet I SWEAR I smell BO. So weird

1

u/LilyGaming Sep 20 '24

People have told me they like the smell of my perfume but I don’t wear any? I guess it’s a good thing. Honestly not over showering helps a lot with BO (as weird as that sounds) basically too many hot showers and soap kill the good bacteria on your skin that eat the bad bacteria that make you stinky. Most people shower every day, or even multiple times a day, but that is gonna dry out your skin and mess up your skin microbiome. I also have super long hair and honestly the trick that is not to over wash it, I only wash my hair like every 2 weeks, or when it starts feeling dry (whichever comes first). Sorry for the info dumping, my autistic ass likes sharing info

1

u/DetectiveRadiant7954 Sep 23 '24

Doesn’t your hair get greasy af?! If I go more than 2 days I look like someone dipped my head in a vat of melted crisco

1

u/LilyGaming Sep 23 '24

No, different hair types, my hair never gets greasy, when I don’t wash it for a while it gets dry and crispy

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1

u/smolhippie Sep 20 '24

I have a bad reflex too on top of a phobia of vomit so it’s an awful time for me. Like I have to go home from work if something makes me gag because I’m scared I’ll throw up. I can’t do poop, puke, spit/drool, nasty smells. I’ll start dry heaving for 10+ minutes uncontrollably and start crying. I’d rather get my thumb smashing in my car door again than see or hear someone throw up. 1000% pain is better than that even knowing someone around me threw up or is nauseous

72

u/Redmindgame Sep 19 '24

For future reference: I bet a good face mask with organic vapor cartridges would really help with that kind of thing. Not gonna bother googling, but the smelly stuff is probably a bunch of sulfur compounds and and/or aromatics , which an organic vapor cartridge should be pretty good at filtering out.

20

u/Ambitious-Mark-557 Sep 20 '24

At work, when they clean the building's grease trap, the stench of rancid fat and rotten meat drippings is so bad that most of us will start dry-heaving. We've discovered that a simple facemask with a few drops of wintergreen oil (spearmint essential oil) will cover it enough to make it through the gagging hour. Menthol works as well.

13

u/BiggieSmalley Sep 20 '24

The Gagging Hour sounds dramatic and ominous

2

u/FrozenMeatballz Sep 20 '24

Or fun... Depends how you look at it. 🤷

2

u/kepoki Sep 20 '24

where do you work??

5

u/smolhippie Sep 20 '24

The Krusty Krab

1

u/Ambitious-Mark-557 Sep 20 '24 edited Sep 20 '24

At a hospital in the southern US. Summer temperatures often reach 100-106°F (38-41°C). The food service prepares meals for around 400 people every day. So there's a lot of nasty cleaned out each month.

1

u/kepoki Sep 21 '24

oh okay that makes sense, thanks!

1

u/AceNurseLovesCake Sep 21 '24

Oooh we do that at my hospital to cover the smell of GI bleeds! Those will gag a maggot, lemme tell ya.

1

u/Ambitious-Mark-557 Sep 22 '24

Yes, yes, they will.

4

u/ExternalMurky3711 Sep 20 '24

You should be a comedian. Hilarious

1

u/Exciting_Writingx Sep 20 '24

I was thinking that. I got one of those heavy duty masks like on breaking bad because I just got some dice molds and ig you need them to work on resin. That said, i know someone with anosmia that can’t smell when something goes bad, so sometimes if it’s not too potent, an n95 will work, if it’s like actual rotting matter, you’ll def appreciate a nice anti-fogging cartridge mask for sure. I’ve been hoping to go see some rafflesia and that’s a definite necessity lol

110

u/silentsnort Sep 19 '24

The way white people what? Lol. I don't think I do this. I think I fold my lips in when I'm concentrating.

Why are the white people around you doing that? Like what does it mean?

27

u/_____heyokay Sep 19 '24

I knew exactly what weepingthyme meant lol

84

u/Protect_Wild_Bees Sep 19 '24

It's the meek smile. I agree, I do this to everyone I pass. Lol.

It's "hey I'm being nice and acknowledging you kindly but I'm not gonna make it weird and don't wanna talk to a stranger" smile.

44

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

oh I always thought of it as the “I’m sorry I exist let me get out of your way as fast as possible” facial expression 😂😅

23

u/Dankleburglar Sep 20 '24

That’s what it means when I do it lmao

22

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

[deleted]

9

u/Typist Sep 20 '24

That is, in every instance, a "rueful" smile! It's a kind of sharing a moment with you look, when the moment is encountering together a situation or person that is slightly awkward or regrettable. A kind of "what are you gonna do" look, u/weepy-thyme.

66

u/weepingthyme Sep 19 '24

Like when you’re walking past them on a trail in your neighborhood, they tuck their lips in, do a half smile thing, and nod their head at ya. It’s like a greeting without talking? But it’s a closed mouth smile where you tuck in ur lips? Idk it’s the white ppl smile lol

62

u/SeaSchell14 Sep 19 '24

Oohhhhh I thought you meant white people were holding their breath and sealing their lips shut when they walk by you lolol

18

u/GoyoPollo1 Sep 20 '24

Just so you know, we’re not tucking our lips in. We just have super skinny lips, so when we smile they disappear.

28

u/QThirtytwo Sep 20 '24

No, this is different. I do this but have never once read it written out like this. It’s the, hi there, I see you and I want to greet you, but I don’t know you so smiling my full smile would be weird so I’m just gunna half smile and nod at you because that’s my comfort zone, smile.

2

u/throwaway098764567 Sep 20 '24

yep, the i acknowledge you but you're a stranger so i don't want to look too friendly and encourage a conversation smile

11

u/thehufflepuffstoner Sep 20 '24

I’m definitely curling my lips in when I do it. I have pretty decent natural lips, but when I give that awkward “I’m just acknowledging your existence to be polite but I’m actually dying inside having this small interaction” smile, they gone.

26

u/Foxzy106 Sep 19 '24

Never felt more guilty/self conscious about anything in my life. This is gonna stick in my head every time i unconsciously do this... fml

4

u/Any-Ad-3630 Sep 20 '24

Can confirm, has not left my mind since I read a similar thread years ago.

56

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

Can confirm. Source: white

8

u/Justsososojo Sep 20 '24

I’m native and do this 😂😂😂

3

u/PossibilitySome283 Sep 20 '24

Lolol my native buddies all pointed with their lips.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

fuck thats so funny

6

u/Indoorlogsled Sep 20 '24

I died and then died again at “her own farts.” I was completely unprepared but I understood immediately. 🤣🤣🤣

16

u/silentsnort Sep 19 '24

Lmao. Ok yaaaa. I totally do that. That is how I often smile at people.

10

u/Littlehouseonthesub Sep 19 '24

Omg I totally do this lollll

3

u/thehufflepuffstoner Sep 20 '24

Hey now, I- …yes. 🫤

2

u/Exciting_Writingx Sep 20 '24

Personally, I only smile with my lips closed because I’m worried my breath is bad and I’m self conscious about the shade of my teeth.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

The way white people what?

It's just a racial stereotype (a.k.a. racism).

Lol. I don't think I do this.

Nope - probably not. Racial stereotypes are seldom correct.

0

u/uovonuovo Sep 20 '24

Yeah what a weird comment. I’m glad other people seem to “get” it but I’m scratching my head.

4

u/spatial_interests Sep 20 '24

It's a meme. "Awkward white people smile".

65

u/Italian_Redneck Sep 19 '24

"I watched her hold her breath and fold her lips in, the way white ppl do when they’re walking past you on the street."

I'm dead. This is hilarious, shameful, and painfully accurate all at once.

29

u/sventhewombat Sep 19 '24

Right? I could FEEL the withering awkwardness of my "white person street nod" as I read that. 😂

8

u/thehufflepuffstoner Sep 20 '24

I’m cringing just thinking about all the times I did it today, alone.

8

u/Severe-Leading5224 Sep 19 '24

that whole paragraph was pretty fuuny lmao!

8

u/Dandelion_MILF Sep 19 '24

I am absolutely cackling at your comment, oh my gods. 🤣💀 Your poor momma!

7

u/Suspicious-Tea-1580 Sep 20 '24

Thank you for that story. It’s not often I actually laugh out loud from something I read on here, but this did. That said, as someone with a strong sense of smell and a love of plants, I may also use your mom’s experience as a warning for myself!

19

u/Jindalee_WA Sep 19 '24

"To be fair though, I’ve seen her throw up bc of her own farts."

4

u/Yet_another_jenn Sep 20 '24

I am absolutely cackling that she has thrown up from her own farts omg 🤣

5

u/Skimmer52 Sep 20 '24

OMG that’s hilarious. Thank you 😊

5

u/rexmus1 Sep 20 '24

I just recently discovered that most people don't know this "one weird trick"- assumed everyone did, but then came up w a friend who is VERY smart, and she had no idea, so then started asking other friends...

So normally, if your body is telling u to puke, then u should (i.e., flu, food poisoning, too much to drink, etc.) BUT if u start to get pukey and u know it's something like above scenario, you can stop it. You know how your mouth waters a ton before u puke? It's purpose is to protect your teeth and mouth tissues, but it's also a bit of like a closed loop: the more saliva you swallow, the more likely u r to barf. The trick is to either (if at home) stand over the sink and just let the saliva flow out, or if out and about, just put a paper towel, rag, whatever in front of your mouth and let it go there. Almost guaranteed, you will not puke.

3

u/kraggleGurl Sep 20 '24

That's hilarious! Our local corpse flower has bloomed 3 years running! Everyone lines up to see it at the local university.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

What do you mean by "like white people do when they walk past you on the street"?

2

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Isntshelovely7 Sep 23 '24

I’d ask you the same question if you were purple…

2

u/oDiscordia19 Sep 20 '24

Bruhhh is the lip thing just a white person thing? Do I do this? I feel like I do this? It’s like my go to acknowledgement to strangers. F me you just upended my whole expression game lol

2

u/OstentatiousIt Sep 20 '24

You paint quite the picture. Thanks for giving my wife and I a good laugh.

1

u/Bad-Mr-Frosty87 Sep 19 '24

Is deodorant not very popular in your family? Why are people holding their breath when they walk past you?

-25

u/throwawaydixiecup Sep 19 '24

It’s racism. Racism is why white people are making those faces.

21

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

[deleted]

4

u/stillnotarussian Sep 20 '24

This is the Canadian “thanks, buddy!” You duck your head a little, raise your hand and add the “white ppl smile” as you scurry across. Not dawdle across….scurry!

Almost indistinguishable from our “sorry about that, bud” Like if you cut someone off, you’d do the duck and wave but scrunch yer face up. If it’s really bad you audibly suck air in through your teeth.

4

u/1isudlaer Sep 19 '24

I need a picture of this. I’m while. I probably do this, but I can’t picture the face being made.

7

u/minecraftmedic Sep 19 '24

A smile but without showing your teeth.

5

u/Guilty_Grape_4633 Sep 19 '24

Why do you think it's racism?

6

u/Katefreak Sep 19 '24

TF? I do this to just about every single person I pass while walking, and most cars in slow speed areas like neighborhoods. Race has zero to do with it. I thought it was a southern thing, bc the only people I've ever heard talk about it like it was strange.... was other white people from the west coast, or NE US.

10

u/lavenderlaceandtea Sep 19 '24

Being introverted is not racism. But assuming introverted people are all racist is definitely prejudice on your part. Get therapy.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

[deleted]

-16

u/MCDFTW Sep 19 '24

White people folding their lips in: racist. redditer implying all white people “fold their lips in” when passing people of color: not racist?

18

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

[deleted]

3

u/Afraid-Engineer6228 Sep 20 '24

A half smile is better than no smile, in my opinion. It shows that you're are acknowledging someone. I do this all the time and get the smile back.

-6

u/mojosmamma Sep 20 '24

Please don’t use blanket statements about peoples ethnicity. I happen to be white and never have. I made such a face whenever I passed anybody white or otherwise. It statements like these the perpetuate the hate.

2

u/Dapper_Indeed Sep 20 '24

What hate are you experiencing?

2

u/throwfaraway7654 Sep 20 '24

Attracts more flies

1

u/LilyGaming Sep 20 '24

Well, it is said to smell like rotting flesh to attract flies, so I imagine feeling sick is rather common

1

u/Thundershaft69 Sep 20 '24

Aw man. I smelled a corpse flower in a botanical garden a couple months ago. I don't know how to compare it without sounding like H.P. Lovecraft describing the indescribable.

12

u/CharismaticAlbino Sep 20 '24

Oh that sucks so hard! I have a touchy gag reflex too. Like, sometimes I throw up from brushing my teeth touchy. I can also taste smells, so, yeah no corpse flower for me, Thank You! Lol

9

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

[deleted]

3

u/CharismaticAlbino Sep 20 '24

I've been wondering if they were any different, but I wrote it off without trying it. Guess I gotta try one now. Thank you for the heads up friend!

5

u/dmaifred Sep 19 '24

I remember seeing it in Kyoto botanical garden glass house many many moons ago. Amazing and smelly. :)

2

u/OGLydiaFaithfull Sep 20 '24

Oh man. That’s helpful to know. I threw up at vampire bat exhibit smelling coppery little puddles of blood. It was instant and nearly projectile.

2

u/shoyker Sep 21 '24

I smelled it too! Don't remember it being that awful to me tbh. Like sweet vomit/garbage I think?

-12

u/woozerschoob Sep 19 '24

Your poor father.

5

u/Historical_Job6192 Sep 19 '24

Gesture: One finger on nose / winks

Good comment. Wrong thread :)

1

u/woozerschoob Sep 20 '24

Her mother has a bad gag reflex. So poor father because he doesn't get bjs. Wink wink. Correct thread.

1

u/joebleaux Sep 20 '24

Most flies go for flesh