Rare Corpse Flower Draws Thousands to Sydney Botanic Garden with Its Unforgettable Stench

A rare and notorious plant, known as the corpse flower, has bloomed at the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden, attracting large crowds eager to experience its infamous smell. Officially named Amorphophallus titanum, the flower emits a stench likened to that of rotting flesh, though some visitors have described the odor as resembling rotting food, sweaty socks, or garlic.

After a seven-year wait since its arrival, the corpse flower gained significant attention when its flower spike, which rose to an impressive 1.6 meters tall, began to open. Over the past week, thousands of admirers — up to 20,000 in total — queued for the chance to see the bloom and experience its distinctive fragrance.

In anticipation of the flower's opening, which occurred on January 23, staff humorously considered providing vomit bags to visitors, acknowledging the plant's "deadly" scent. However, they ultimately decided against it, with spokesperson Sophie Daniel reporting that no one was harmed during the event. Dubbed "Putricia" by fans, a combination of "putrid" and "Patricia," the plant has become a sensation on social media, generating nearly a million views on its 24/7 live stream leading up to the bloom.

The blooming of the corpse flower is a rare event, lasting only one to three days, despite the plant taking up to a decade to flower. Native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Amorphophallus titanum is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, making its rare blooming even more significant.