Massive crowds queue in Sydney to smell flowers that smell like ‘hot rubbish’

She may smell like rotting flesh, but the internet-famous corpse flower ‘Putricia’ has been the center of attention at the Sydney Botanic Gardens for the past two days.

The rare plant – amorphophallus titanum, also known as ‘Titan Arum’ or ‘bunga bangkai’ in Indonesia – grows in the wild. Flowers began on Thursday, emitting a smell described as having a “dead mouse” aroma. .

There are 11 corpse flowers in the garden. According to tradition, the staff gave each corpse flower a nickname. This time they chose “Putricia” – a combination of “putrid” and “Patricia”.

Over the past 18 days, Putricia has also become an influencer, with thousands watching a livestream created by the agency documenting her growth from a bud to a 1.6-meter-tall flower in real time.

John Siemon, director of gardening and lifestyle collections at Gardens, which has more than 1.5 million views and a very active Discord community, said staff were “shocked” by Putricia’s sudden popularity.

Simon said at least 20,000 excited onlookers walked through the gates last week and caught a whiff of Putricia.

Sydney Botanic Gardens chief scientist Professor Brett Summerell said Putricia had taken some time to ramp up production of her unique fragrance, but on Thursday night she was at her peak and the scent could be smelled 20 meters outside her pavilion.

“It’s been a bit of a build-up,” he said. “Over a period of time, when the flower starts to unfold, it starts to generate heat, and the heat starts to create a chemical reaction.

“What the plant is trying to do is produce the maximum amount of scent that attracts insects, flies and beetles from all over the jungle so they can come over and pollinate it.”

This extra-large flower has fluted crimson petals that can be more than one meter (3 feet) in diameter and has a central pointed stem up to 3 meters (10 feet) long.

The flower’s sickly smell and reddish-purple structure are meant to lure pollinators so they can reproduce.

The plant usually does not bloom more than once every few years and only lasts about a day. There have been no blooms in Sydney since 2010, making Putricia the fifth corpse flower to bloom in gardens.

After about 48 hours, the yellow flower stalk in the center of the corpse flower will collapse, and it will take at least three to five years before it blooms again.

Sydney resident Rebecca McGee-Colette waited 90 minutes to see the flower on Thursday night, which she said was beautiful but smelled “like hot garbage”.

The plant is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra and is listed as endangered due to habitat loss and poaching, with 300-500 Amorphophallus titans specimens believed to exist in the wild.