It takes 10 years to bloom, and the scent is to die from

STORRS, Conn. -- Today or maybe tomorrow or the next day, the giant petals of one of the world's largest flowers will slowly unfold and unleash one of the worst natural smells on Earth.

The 10-year-old corpse flower, known as bunga bangkai in its native Indonesia and titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum in botany, has already attracted more than 6,000 visitors in the final days before its first bloom.

T-shirts with its likeness have sold briskly. The webcam following its progress in the University of Connecticut greenhouse has had more than a million hits by yesterday afternoon.

A cousin to the skunk cabbage and the calla lily, the aptly-named corpse flower has grown 4 feet over the last 25 days, or roughly 1-3 inches per day, making it seem more like an escapee from the ''Little Shop of Horrors" than an unusually large plant. (Luckily, it eats only houseplant fertilizer, not blood like its Hollywood and Broadway counterpart.)

Already a few flies have been spotted in the greenhouse, but once the flower blooms, flies and carrion beetles are expected in swarms, lured by a chemical smell that resembles rotting flesh.

''In its native Sumatra, it's pollinated by very tiny sweat bees, but obviously we don't have those kinds of insects . . . so we'll just get whatever usual insects you would find on dead meat on the side of the road," said Clinton Morse, plant growth facilities manager of UConn's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. ''I've also heard of blooms where watchmen standing six-hour shifts couldn't complete their shifts."

A botanist brought back seedlings on a trip to Sumatra a decade ago. He gave one to Harvard University, one each to Wellesley and Smith colleges, and two to grow in UConn's greenhouse. This one is the first of the bunch to bloom.

When the corpse flower finally opens, it will be the first ever in New England. The last time a titan arum flowered in this region was in the New York Botanical Garden in 1937. Two years later it became the official flower of the Bronx.

There's not much scientific importance to the plant. It can't be eaten or used to make clothes or buildings, but it is cultivated, mainly as a curiosity.

Its 100-pound stem looks like a human brain. It grows from a tuber like a potato, which can reach 170 pounds, and its leaves are larger than a golf umbrella.

The stench is a finely honed adaptation to its rarity; one plant might be 2 miles from its nearest relative, Morse said.

''Those [bad-smelling chemicals] will waft out into the rain forest to attract pollinators which normally lay their eggs in rotting flesh and will be tricked into coming to the plant," he said.

To better spread the smell, the top of the flower will also heat up to about 100 degrees after it first blooms.

The purple and red petals will slowly unfold, probably in the late afternoon either today or during the weekend, though researchers are still unsure exactly when.

''I've been waiting 10 years to see this thing flower, so I'm a little antsy right now," Morse said.

Among the fans eagerly awaiting the opening is UConn nursing student Patricia Lolley, who has come to the greenhouse daily since Saturday.

''It's getting redder inside, and it's starting to come undone a little bit," Lolley said yesterday. ''I'm going to come every day until it blooms."

Jessica T. Lee can be reached at jtlee@globe.com.