Well, it took a few days longer than predicted, but Sydney’s favourite foul-smelling plant, the lovingly named “Putricia” corpse flower is finally blooming.
For those who love an immersive story, Sydneysiders experience a stunning sight and eye-watering smell as the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney’s corpse flower blooms.
Found only in the western rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the rare Titan Arum/Amorphophallus titanum only blooms once every few years.
The flower is so-named because of its distinct scent of “putrid, rotten flesh” described by the Botanic Gardens as “wet socks, hot cat food, or rotting possum flesh”. Why does it smell so bad? To attract pollinators. The putrid smell of rotting flesh dupes carrion beetles and flies (who lay eggs in dead flesh) who visit and inadvertently pollinate the flowers.
Although it smells objectively awful, it is a beautiful flower. The Botanic Gardens describe it as a “peace lily, arum lily or monstera flower on steroids.”
“Putricia” — the winning name from an internal staff competition — began spreading its petals on the afternoon of January 23, three days later than expected. The Botanic Gardens team had predicted it would bloom sometime between Friday, January 17 and Monday (today) January 20.
This is the fifth time this particular plant has flowered. Its first time in fifteen years. The seed for this plant was collected from a wild corpse flower in West Sumatra. It was cultivated at Mt Lofty Botanic Garden South Australia. A cutting was taken from this bunch in September 2020. Of the 12 ones received, this is the first to bloom. The flowers need around 7-10 years to get to the flowering stage.
You can watch the “plant to die for” as it blooms on the Botanic Garden’s live stream, be warned it’s already starting to wilt. If you would like to brave the scent in person, you can visit the flower every day in the Palm House, from 8am until 6pm (depending on weather conditions). The horticulturalists have moved the plant there and placed it behind a red velvet rope to protect it from visitors – and to make it appear like a royal lying in state. The Botanic Garden team plans to keep the greenhouse open from 8am until midnight on January 24.
Entry is technically free, but the Botanic Gardens of Sydney appreciates donations in order to continue its work on the conservation of endangered and rare plants, such as the corpse flower. You cannot book your slot, so expect queues. The Palm House is a heritage building with limited space, so the staff will bring small groups through one at a time.
The flower will stay in bloom for just 24 hours. The ephemeral event happens just once every few years.
