Thousands of curious tourists and locals queued in Sydney to catch the scent of a rare plant known as a corpse flower after it bloomed for the first time in a decade.
The specimen, nicknamed Putricia – a combination of 'rotten' and 'Patricia' – is known for emitting an odor similar to rotting meat.
Putricia bloomed in Sydney for the first time in a decade last Friday, prompting people across the city to flock to the Royal Botanic Garden to take a selfie and smell it.
The bizarre plant typically blooms no more than once every few years and lasts only about a day. There has been no specimen flowering in Sydney since 2010.
When the long-awaited unfolding of Putricia's petals began on Thursday afternoon, the queues grew longer and visitors waited as long as three hours.
The garden remained open until midnight on Thursday to accommodate the large crowds.
'The fact that it is so big, that it takes so long [to bloom]and it smells so bad that it really draws people to it,” said Brett Summerell, chief scientist at the Sydney Botanic Gardens.
“I liken the smell to a dead possum,” he said.
The specimen, nicknamed Putricia – a combination of 'rotten' and 'Patricia' – is known for emitting an odor similar to rotting meat
People queue outside the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney to view the corpse flower on January 24, 2025 in Sydney, Australia
The rare and endangered Corpse Flower plant, found only in the rainforests of West Sumatra, is known for the smell of putrid, rotting flesh that surrounds the flowers when it blooms.
People have described the smell as like wet socks, hot cat food, or rotting possum meat
Sydney resident Rebecca McGee-Collett, who waited 90 minutes to see the flower on Thursday evening, said the flower was beautiful but the smell was “like hot garbage.”
John Siemon, director of horticultural and home collections at the gardens, compared the spectacle to the 2000 Sydney Olympics and said: 'We've already had 15,000 people come through the gates [the flower] even opened'.
A livestream from the factory racked up nearly a million hits as food trucks lined the streets outside, selling ice cream and cold drinks and volunteers handed out flyers to excited visitors.
Every few minutes, 25 people were allowed into the building to spend the allotted time with Putricia, as the pungent odor grew stronger by the hour.
Once inside, fans were greeted with the sounds of soft, classical music, a red carpet and velvet rope.
Images from the botanical garden show the plant standing tall and proud as small clouds of mist emerge from beneath it – designed to mimic the humidity of Indonesia, where the species grows wild.
The scientific name of the corpse flower is amorphophallus titanum – which translates to large, deformed penis – because of its phallic tip.
The oversized flower has fluted crimson petals and can be over a meter wide with a pointed central stem that can grow up to three meters tall.
Every few minutes, 25 people were allowed into the building to spend the allotted time with Putricia, as the pungent odor grew stronger by the hour
Bunga Bankai (Indonesian), Titan Arum or Amorphophallus titanum blooms only 24 hours, once every few years
Visitors were seen taking photos of the Corpse Flower blossom at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Images from the botanical garden show the plant tall and proud as small clouds of mist emerged from beneath it
Hundreds of visitors lined up to witness the blooming of the Corpse Flower
The oversized flower has fluted crimson petals and can be over a meter wide with a pointed central stem that can grow up to 3 meters tall.
Speaking to The Guardian, Royal Botanic Garden chief scientist Prof Brett Summerell said he had witnessed a corpse flower bloom only five times during his 35 years in the role.
“Something that happens so rarely is always a special occasion,” he said.
“You come out and everything stinks. “I've heard stories of people being very sensitive and gagging… It's never affected me that bad, but to each their own,” he added.
Within a few days, Putricia will shrivel and collapse and eventually a new single leaf will be produced. But it may take years before she has the energy to bloom again.
When in bloom, the plant's long yellow spadix gives off a strong odor, often likened to the smell of rotting meat, to trick pollinators into landing on what they think is rotten meat, so they can transfer pollen between males and female specimens can move.
It is endangered in the wild due to deforestation and land degradation.
