Thousands flock to smell a plant that smells like a dead rat, rotting garbage | Environmental news
Huge crowds queued in Sydney to get a whiff of a flower that smells like ‘hot rubbish’
It may smell like rotting flesh, but ‘Putricia’, the internet-famous corpse flower, has been the center of attention at the Sydney Botanic Gardens for the past two days.
The rare plant – scientifically named amorphophallus titanum, but also known as “Titan Arum” or “bunga bangkai” in Indonesia where it grows wild – began flowering on Thursday, giving off a scent described as the aromatic profile of a “dead rat”.
With 11 corpse flowers in the collection, the gardens staff traditionally give each a nickname, and this time they decided on ‘Putricia’ – a combination of ‘putrid’ and ‘Patricia’.
Putricia has also become an influencer of sorts over the past 18 days, as thousands tuned in to a livestream created by the institution to document her growth from a simple bud to a 1.6m flower in real time.
With more than 1.5 million views and a very active Discord community, John Siemon, the gardens’ director of horticulture and living collections, says staff have been “shocked” by Putricia’s sudden popularity.
Siemon said at least 20,000 excited onlookers have come through the gates to catch a whiff of Putricia over the past week.
Sydney Botanic Gardens chief scientist Professor Brett Summerell said Putricia had taken its time to ramp up production of its unique perfume, but it was at its peak on Thursday night when the scent could be detected from 20 meters away outside her pavilion.
“It’s building up a little bit,” he said. “Over time, as the flower begins to develop, it begins to generate heat, and that heat begins to generate chemical reactions.
“What the plant is trying to do is produce the maximum amount of that scent to attract insects, flies and bugs from all over the jungle to come and pollinate it.”
The huge flower has ruffled crimson petals and can measure over a meter (3 feet) in diameter with a pointed central stem that can be 3 meters (10 feet) tall.
The flower’s disgusting smell and reddish-purple structure are designed to lure pollinators so it can reproduce.
The plant usually does not bloom more than once every few years and lasts only about a day. One specimen has not flowered in Sydney since 2010, making Putricia the fifth corpse flower to bloom in gardens.
After about 48 hours, the yellow stem in the center of the dead flower dies and it will be at least three to five years before the plant blooms again.
Sydney resident Rebecca McGee-Collett, who waited 90 minutes to see the flower on Thursday night, said the flower was beautiful but the smell was “like hot rubbish”.
The plant is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra and is listed as endangered due to habitat loss and poaching, and there are thought to be 300-500 specimens of Titan Arum left in the wild.
